


Fire And Ice

by ScarabKnight



Series: Fire And Ice [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Banter, Canon-Typical Violence, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Existential Crisis, F/M, Kitty Is A Romance Terminator, Minor Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Relationship(s), Post-Canon, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:54:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 124,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22745878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarabKnight/pseuds/ScarabKnight
Summary: After encountering a dispirited Ember during a routine patrol, Danny proposes a truce - he'll help with her problems if she'll help with his.Quite how this leads to benevolent kidnapping, demolishing buildings and Ember waving an axe around, they couldn't tell you.Now with a TVTropes page!Check it out and give it a fiddle!
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Ember McLain, Ember McLain & Danny Fenton
Series: Fire And Ice [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1780699
Comments: 395
Kudos: 333





	1. Lost in the Woods

“I’m telling you, Jazz; I can talk them into it!”

“ _Danny, you cannot talk NASA into letting you build a pirate ship in space._ ”

“It’s not a pirate ship! Solar sails are a viable method of space travel, but you have to build them _in_ space for them to work. And would NASA really turn down the offer from someone who can just lift everything they need up there, and build it for them?”

“ _And you would build it to resemble…?_ ”

“… That’s not the point!”

“ _I rest my case_ ”

Danny let out a groan of mock exasperation, grinning at his sister’s smug tone as he turned at the town’s borders and flew back. In all honesty, she was quickly becoming his favourite person to have on the other end of his comm. His parents were somehow both far too regimented and far too… parent-y (There’s got to be a word for that), going from “why have you deviated from patrol route Alpha Nine” to fretting about how cold it must be up there in seconds. Tucker was pretty good, but they both tended to lose focus talking to each other about pop culture trivia. And, Sam, well…

It was getting better, but they were still awkward.

No, Jazz managed to balance actually getting the work done and keeping a boring night interesting pretty well when he was patrolling alone. Plus, she let him ramble about space stuff. Nobody lets him ramble about space stuff.

“OK, fine, but pirate ship aside, it’s not a bad idea, right? I can get stuff into orbit easier than anything else they’ve got”

“ _Sure! I mean, the way things have gone the past month or so, you might need a new job anyway. We’ve not had any ghost activity beyond a few blips the last week, and even that might just be, well, you._ ”

“Tell me about it. Even Skulker’s keeping his head down, and I don’t think he has a neck.”

Danny halted in midair, just above the centre of town. Amity Park softly glowed with the street lights, the last few stragglers hurrying home from work, bars and restaurants starting to close up. Everything was quiet, everything still.

It was all just peaceful.

Danny smiled. _I could get used to things being like this for once. Maybe I can take a break for a while._

“ _Danny? Still there?_ ”

“Mm hm. Look, I’m gonna make one more pass of the outskirts and then head home. We’ve had nothing show up on the scanners for ages. Plus, it’s a school night. The school may have made some accommodations because they know I’m Danny Phantom now, but I don’t think anything will save me if I fall asleep in Lancer’s class.” He said, propelling himself towards the forest to the west of him.

“ _This wouldn’t be a problem if you’d just try the dymaxion sleep cycle with me_ ”

“Besides not having the month and half of time I’d need to adjust to that madness, doesn’t that also cause hallucinations until you _do_ get used to it?”

“ _So that’s why a hoard of pink elephants have been helping me all night_ ” Jazz deadpanned, her voice dripping sarcasm.

“Ha, ha… Wait, I’ve seen weirder, there aren’t actu-“Danny started to say, before his breath hitched in an involuntary gasp, and ghostly blue vapour appeared from his mouth.

Ghost sense. Something was here.

He looked around warily, arms tensed for a fight. He was floating above Amity forest on the far reaches of town. Nothing in the skies, at least that he could see. Not many buildings here, abandoned or otherwise, just a few houses and the old movie theatre. So he probably wasn’t picking up a haunting. Something in the forest itself, then? They weren’t making themselves known, whoever they were.

“Jazz, trouble. Ghost sense just went off near the forest. Are you picking up anything on that side?”

“ _No, nothing… wait… ectoplasmic background levels in there are slightly higher than they were last night. The levels would be consistent with a spectral_ presence _, but… one that isn’t_ doing _anything? Is that normal?_ ”

“Not really. Even the nicer ones tend to be at least active in avoiding people, if nothing else. I’ll check it out”

“ _Want me to get mom and dad on standby?_ ”

“Would you _like_ the forest burned down?”

“ _Good point. Be careful, Danny_ ”

“Will do” he said, as he began descending to the forests entrance, landing silently on the earth. The moon was bright enough for him to see his surroundings – a winding dirt path, flanked by thick, gnarled tree trunks that seemed to curve around to form a natural corridor. Autumn foliage rustled quietly, seeming to whisper. By day, it was probably a cool effect.

By night, it was just _creepy_. You’d think dealing with ghosts and, in fact, _being_ one would at least reduce the chills, but nope.

Oh, no, wait, that was why – unlike other people, he knew there _was_ something supernatural in there.

Sighing, Danny started to trek the uphill path, the soft shifting of the soil the only sound accompanying him. He resisted the urge to call out if anyone was there. He’d seen enough movies to know it was worse than useless. Besides, what would he do if someone actually replied? Beyond need a new jumpsuit.

Still… the urge to say something, _anything_ just to break the near-silence was strong. The further into the forest he got, and the tighter the trees closed in on him, the less noise the forest produced, not even the usual insect chittering. His mom had explained it to him once, something along the lines of ectoplasm causing a flight reaction in wildlife. Understanding and experiencing, however, were two very different things. He’d never quite realised how much background noise he let himself get used to. Without it, things were… tense.

Danny was on the verge of contacting Jazz, giving himself away be damned, just to calm his nerves when he heard a sound, carried on the wind.

Music. From further ahead.

He picked up the pace, relieved for a hint of what was here. The song was slow, melancholic, but it had a grace to it, flowing from chord to chord with practised ease. Whoever was playing was good. It was a guitar; he thinks? Whatever.

… _oh._

In Amity Park, ghost activity and music usually only meant one thing.

The dirt path turned to the right, leading into a large clearing. The ground there rose and fell unevenly, creating odd depressions in the thick grass, some several meters wide. The moonlight cascaded downwards with no plant life to impede it, throwing the clearing into stark light and dark.

All of this was lost on Danny, however, because he was focused entirely on the figure sat at the edge of one of the depressions, her back to him, strumming at her guitar.

Pale blue skin. Flaming hair. Black punk leather. Purple guitar with flames.

“Jazz?” He whispered, tapping his comm. and ducking behind a tree as quietly as he could. No sense in letting her know he was here. “It’s Ember. She hasn’t seen me yet”

“ _Wow, really? I don’t think we’ve seen her since the Disasteroid._ ”

“Yeah, we’re about due a visit, I guess…”

“ _… So? What’s she doing?_ ”

“Uh… She’s just… playing her guitar”

“ _Ah, trying to raise the trees against us? Control animals to attack the town? Lure out and kill the forest spirit to cause it to become a rampaging corrupting god?_ ”

“No, none of that, just - wait, what was that last one?”

“ _Never mind. That’s seriously it?_ ”

“Seriously.”

Whatever song Ember was playing picked up energy, getting louder and faster. The notes seemed to weave all around the clearing, filling the entire space with their wistful rhythm. Danny was impressed. Ember was packing a lot of raw emotion into her playing, and, well...

“It’s actually really, really good” he muttered.

“ _Well, duh. Ghost powers, that’s how she gets you, remember. Just thermos her and come home_ ”

With one last flourish, the final chord reverberated around the clearing. Danny watched as Ember seemed to breathe out heavily; put her guitar down and…

“I think she’s _crying_ ” Danny breathed. Her head was in her hands, her shoulders jerked at random, and if Danny listened hard, he could hear the sobs. He went cold. In spite of their history, or maybe because of it, Danny found he couldn’t bear seeing her like this.

“… I’m gonna go talk to her”

“ _What?! Danny, no, what if it’s a trap?_ ”

“What if it’s not?”

Silence, punctuated only by the wind and Ember’s faint whimpers.

“ _You and your hero complex. Ugh, fine, but when it all goes wrong, I’m sending mom and dad in. Val too, if she’s still around_ ”

“Tough but fair. Wish me luck”

He took a deep breath, and stepped out from behind the tree, walking slowly towards the oblivious ghost rocker, his arms held out at his sides. Trying to look as harmless as possible to the definitely-crying Ember.

_Here goes nothing,_ he thinks.

“OK, I know I’m probably the last person you want to see, but are you- “

“ **You!** ” Ember’s head whipped around, tear-streaked face contorted in fury. Before Danny could say anything more, she snatched up her guitar, hurling a pink streak of energy directly at him. Danny barely brought his arms up in time to form his dome shield, the blast crashing against it.

_Yeah, should have seen that coming._

“I am **not** in the mood for this right now, dipstick! **Get lost!** ” Ember roared, sending more and more blasts at his shield, her tears evaporating as her hair blazed. The green barrier held, but it wouldn’t forever, Danny knew.

“I just want to talk! I don’t want to fight you, Ember!”

“What, is that supposed to be funny?! That’s what you do! That’s all you **ever** do!” she shouted, her voice cracking.

“I mean it!”

“ **Prove it!** ”

Danny groaned. There might be one way to convince her, but depending on how she reacted, it could be painful.

_Well, nobody said this would be easy._

The dome shield vanished into the ether. Ember rose her hand to strike her guitar again, but paused when a ring of light materialised around Danny and split, sweeping across him. Before long, white hair and green eyes were gone, replaced by black and blue, which looked at her without malice, only concern.

“Ember… I just want to help” he said softly.

Ember’s arm was frozen, held high above her guitar and her own, livid expression. Slowly, as it seemed to dawn on her that he was being serious, the anger melted away from her face, and her arm dropped to her side. The guitar slid from her grip with a muffled thud on the earth, as Ember turned on her heel and sat down again, drawing her knees to her chest.

“Go away…” she murmured listlessly, not bothering to face him.

Danny hesitated. His years of experience were screaming at him this was an enemy, to attack or run away, but he pushed them down. He wasn’t leaving, he knew that, but he wasn’t sure how far he could push his luck here. She didn’t seem particularly hostile for once…

_In for a penny, Fenton._

He walked slowly towards the depression Ember was curled up beside and stood next to her. When she didn’t react, he folded his legs up underneath himself and sat near to her. Close enough that he was _with_ her, far enough away to not be threatening or invasive.

_Thank you Sam and Jazz, for teaching me how to act in situations like this._

She didn’t turn away or, y’know, attempt to cave his head in, which Danny took as a win. Up close, he could see her face much more clearly. The patterns beneath her eyes were smudged and streaked. There wasn’t a trace of a mocking smirk, no arrogant pride written all over her face, her eyes didn’t have the usual malicious glee whenever they’d fought before.

She just looked so… lost.

_OK, Danny, you’ve gotten this far. Now try to open her up a little, get a dialogue going, find out what’s wrong and if you can help. You got this._

“So… how’re you doing?”

_You are a nitwit;_ he mentally berated himself as Ember shot him a glare _. If I could phase myself out of your skull I would._

“Sorry,” he hastily added, “stupid question”.

“Oh, ya think?” Ember retorted acidly.

He breathed in slowly, pondering his next action. _OK, I can do better than this. Enemy or not, she’s in pain. I_ have _to do better._

“… Ember, I understand if you don’t want to talk to me. I won’t force you to, not that I really could. I’ll even understand if you genuinely just want me to leave right now. We’ve spent every other time together at each other’s throats, so, I get it.

But I can tell you from experience that keeping problems and feelings bottled up never does you any good. It just traps you in your own head until everything is way worse than before. I can’t promise I’ll be able to help if you decide to tell me, but I can promise I’ll try. And I can promise that whatever you tell me stays between us.” He said gently, matching word with action by turning his comm. off.

Ember turned her face back to the ground whilst Danny spoke, her incensed expression vanishing, replaced by the empty one of before.

“Why am I not surprised you give me this goody-goody garbage…” she muttered, more to herself than anyone else, venom entirely missing from her tone. “What’s it to you anyway? Why do you care?”

“… Why shouldn’t I?”

Ember didn’t reply. The silence stretched out, reigning over the clearing.

_Nuts. I thought that worked for a second there. OK, what now? She’s not asked me to go, so progress there. What’re my options? Crack a joke to ease the tension? Likely to get me set on fire. Talk about my own experiences? I’m not even sure what the problem is yet. Start a fight for catharsis? Brain, stop giving me terrible ideas._

“I used to come here a lot” Ember said quietly, breaking the silence. “Back… before, y’know…”

“You mean, before you-“ Danny hesitated.

“ _Before_ ,” Ember said firmly.

_Or I could shut up, that’s a good option._

“If things ever got too much at school, or at home, or just in my whole… _existence_ , I’d come here and practice. Just me and the trees. I could think and talk and deal with things. Nobody else ever came up here. My own private venue, away from the world.”

“That sounds nice” Danny commented wistfully, only to flinch when Ember stared at him disdainfully.

“Sure it does, baby pop, until you use your brain and wonder _why_ I had a place like this.”

“… Ah.”

“Right. ‘Ah’. S’not like it’s a unique story. Everywhere’s got one like me, the one little _freak_ who didn’t fit in. The girl who liked weird music, came from that family out on the outskirts of everything, you know what _they’re_ like. Had this pathetic dream of being a rock star and changing the way things were. Who’d have just been a loner if she didn’t cheese off the big popular girls and get turned into a punching bag. Teachers wouldn’t do anything, parents didn’t care. Heard it a thousand times. Maybe that’s why nobody ever remembered…” she trailed off, before shaking her head.

“There was this guy” she continued, “on the fringes of the popular crowd. Most of them were airheads, or jerks, or airheaded jerks, but he seemed… different. Like he had something to him the others didn’t. I dunno. He followed me up here one time, heard me playing. Told me I was amazing, asked me if I wanted to see a movie with him, to meet him here tomorrow and we’d go down to the theatre together.”

“… He never showed, did he?” Danny murmured. Ember gave a mirthless chuckle.

“Told you it wasn’t original. No, he didn’t. After the first hour that should’ve been it, but no, the lonely freak kept making excuses for him until the early morning. By the time I’d let myself realise I was a punch line and went home, I was exhausted. Didn’t even notice when the… when the house went up in flames.”

“Ember, that’s… I’m sorry”

She shrugged. “It happened. Nothing else to say” she whispered, her voice straining to stay casual. Ember closed her eyes and drew a deep breath, visibly trying to keep going.

“When you got your better half, you never faded, did you?”

“I’d answer that if I had the first idea what you meant. Faded?”

“Yeah. When most of us go, we stick around for a few days afterwards before we get dragged to the Ghost Zone. Can’t _do_ anything, you just wander around invisible and intangible. Let’s you see how people react to you not being there or whatever. Pretty sure it’s a cosmic joke on us. It was on me, anyway.”

Ember’s voice started to get more animated, fiery, more like herself.

“You know what I saw? You know how people reacted to me being gone?

With _nothing_. Not even the guy who stood me up knew who I was when they announced it at school. Just gloated with his new friends about how easy it was to trick the freak. And the less said about mom, the _better.”_ Ember spat venomously.

Danny tried his absolute hardest to not let the overwhelming pity show on his face. He’s not sure he succeeded, but Ember wasn’t looking at him anyway. Her gaze was fixed on the ground in front of her, eyes blazing along with her hair as her temper flared and her voice got louder.

“When I got to the Zone, I swore I’d make my way back and I’d _make_ people remember who I was. I’d have them chanting the name of the girl they couldn’t be bothered to treat as a human being. I’d be the star none of them believed I could be. I practiced for years, getting my ghost powers honed and ready for my big debut.”

Ember’s head turned to face Danny, the fierce expression marred by the building tears he could see.

“Then you and your portal happened. And suddenly I didn’t have to dream about finding a way through. Now I actually could stand in front of a crowd and hear them call my name and burn myself into their memories. And do you know how it felt? Do you, Phantom?!” Ember shouted, her eyes piercing Danny’s.

“Hollow. It felt _hollow._ Like it changed nothing, meant _nothing”_ she practically screamed, her face a snarl and her body shaking as she tried to keep herself contained. _“_ I spent I don’t know how many years _haunting_ over this, as my grand revenge over the world. They were shouting my name, singing my songs, and I couldn’t force myself to forget it was because I was _making them_. Years and years of ambition and planning and practice and _obsession_ and when I finally get there it’s like a kid playing pretend!”

Danny nearly leapt to his feet as Ember became more and more agitated, staying down only by mentally wrestling both his ghost hunting instincts and empathy into submission. Slowly, Ember calmed down, wiping the edge of her eyes with her gloved hand before hugging her legs again.

“… Because it _was_ just pretend. Even when I tried other ways, other plans, it felt the same. I spent so long on something meaningless and now I…

I don’t know what to do anymore.”

The words were barely a whisper above the wind.

“… Oh” breathed Danny after a few seconds past.

“What’s that supposed to mean, dipstick?! Is that all you can say?!” Ember fumed, her hair flickering again. He raised his hands swiftly in surrender.

“Sorry, sorry! Not what I meant. It just… it explains a few things. You not showing up all that often, never doing the same thing twice or even the same thing differently and…” Danny sighed, cutting off his stream of consciousness. _Do better._

“… Can I let you in on a secret, Ember?”

“If it’s some kind of saccharine trash like “follow your heart and it will guide you”, then forget-“

“I don’t know what to do either.”

Ember raised an eyebrow at him, incredulity written all over her face. “You? You expect me to believe that? You’re the big shot superhero with fans all over the world, you’ve gotta be raking in cash, and you’ve got all the benefits of ghost powers with none of the… the… you know!”

“Yeah, and I never wanted any of it!” Danny snapped, startling her.

“All of – _this_ ” he said, as the rings reappeared and transformed him “was a complete accident. I only ever fought you guys because I was the only one who could, at first. My parents were still stuck on weird theories with no experience and it’s not like anyone else thought ghost’s existed. If people got hurt when I could help, that was on me, you know?”

Danny tilted his head back to look at the sky. “When Walker trashed my reputation and let everyone know ghosts were real, a part of me was glad. People knew now! Something would get done; someone more qualified than the teenager who had a semi-fatal lab accident could take over! And then _no one did._

So I thought maybe if I stuck it out and kept who I was a secret, eventually something would come up that meant I could quit, or at least scale it back to emergencies. Get back to having a normal life; maybe actually get my grades back up enough to get into a decent college. After the Disasteroid, though? Everyone knows. Everyone’s got expectations, and nobody’s asking if this is what I want. I won’t say there aren’t perks, or that I’m not glad to be helping people and stopping bad guys. But being trapped in the public eye isn’t what I want for all my life. Half-life. Whatever.”

“… and what _do_ you want?” Ember asked. She had a curious expression on her face that Danny didn’t recognise. On anyone else he might have called it sympathy.

“Honestly?”

Ember nodded.

“I want to go up there” he said, gesturing to the stars. “There’s a lot we haven’t explored yet. I want to be at the front of that. Maybe find out if we’re alone or not.”

Ember smirked at him suddenly. “Pretty tall order, short stuff.”

“Ah, bite me, Ms. Platform boots, I’m average height” Danny grinned back, glad for some levity. This was more like the Ember he knew, quick and sarcastic. The banter was usually fun, if nothing else was. _For either of us, apparently._

They sat in silence together, looking at the night sky.

After a while, Danny sighed, and stood up, turning to face Ember properly.

_I’m probably going to regret this, but the heck with it. It’ll probably help._

“You’ve not got anyone to talk to about this, do you?”

“… No. Kitty, she tries, but I can’t get her to understand. I’m not even gonna get into Skulker. Pompous jerk. Wish I’d never dated him…” Ember muttered under her breath.

“I wasn’t gonna mention that, but yeesh, you can do better than _him_.”

“Thanks, I didn’t know hindsight was one of your powers” she drawled back at him sarcastically.

“I’m pretty sure that just required regular sight.”

“Shuddup, dipstick!” she shouted, flinging a clump of earth at him.

“Alright, alright, sorry!” Danny chuckled, whilst Ember tried her best to hide the quirk of a smile. “What I was getting at was, I know how much it sucks trying to work out what you want to do and your place and all that by yourself, and I know because I’m in the same boat. ”

“Yeah, I guess. Getting to the point, baby pop?” Ember asked quizzically.

_Insults thick and fast, and some of the walls coming up again. Must be feeling better,_ Danny thought, as he held out his hand to her.

“Easy. Truce. We confide in each other about this kinda stuff; we distract each other from it all if we need it, just generally help each other until we get it figured out.”

Ember looked at his hand sceptically.

“What, just like that? If I’d known it was _this_ easy, I’d have faked it way back. I spill my guts in the most pathetic way and you’re just willing to trust me?”

“Oh, I don’t _trust_ you. Don’t get me wrong, you come through that portal for any other reason, you’re getting in the thermos” Danny gave a cocky grin while Ember stuck her tongue out at him, before turning serious again. “But let’s be honest – I _know_ we can’t really talk to anyone else about this. Mom and dad would just get confused about why I’d want to maybe give up ghost hunting; Jazz would probably diagnose me with half a dozen different psychiatric disorders. Tucker would complain that I don’t know how good I’ve got it and Sam… Well, I know how she’d react, because I’ve tried to bring this up before.”

“Wow, there’s a domestic I do _not_ want to see.” Ember quipped. She raised an eyebrow when Danny didn’t fire back, but instead looked down and frowned.

“Yeah, that’s… that’s one way of putting it.” He shook himself and raised his head again. “But yeah, we both get something out of this, even if it’s just a break and someone to vent to. What do you say, Ember?”

Ember’s eyes flicked between his hand and his face, which was giving her a small, sincere smile. Eventually she huffed. Hauling herself to her feet, she looked Danny in the eye as she took his gloved hand in hers and shook.

“Say a word of this to anyone else, and I’m setting your face on fire. I’ve got a rep to maintain” she said, deadly serious. Danny just smiled wider and shook back.

“Deal.”

Their hands fell to their sides, and neither moved.

“So, uh… what now? I’m not used to this not ending with either you on the ground or me in that high tech camping gear of yours.”

“No idea. I didn’t plan beyond sitting down. I figured you’d smack me for even getting close, so I’ve been winging it from there… You feeling any better?” Danny asked hesitantly.

“… Yeah.” Ember’s voice was quiet, as if she only just noticed that herself. “I think I might head back now. No offence, but I’m not sure how much longer I can look at your face without punching it” she teased, smirking.

“You’d punch a national treasure like this face?” Danny proclaimed melodramatically, his hand over his heart. “Ember, truly you are a villain!”

“And don’t you forget it! … Wanna race to the portal?”

“You’re on!” he shouted, getting into position to take off.

“And… Danny?” Ember said from beside him, before throwing her arms around his shoulders, wrapping him in a hug. “Thanks.”

Before Danny could properly process what was happening, Ember released his shoulders and rocketed upwards, her flaming hair streaking behind her.

“Thanks for being a **sucker!** ” she cackled, making a beeline straight for Fenton Works.

“Cheater!” Danny rebuked, launching himself after her as fast as he could.

She won, in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I knew I wanted to frontload a lot of the heavy stuff early, but I might have gone a little overboard. Next couple of chapters will be a lot lighter, I promise.
> 
> A lot of my reasoning for Ember's existential crisis, if you want to call it that, came about because I realised she's only a solo villain precisely once, on-screen anyway. After that she only turns up with others in tow. Which I always thought was weird for such an excellent villain, so I thought hey, why not try to explain why and see what happens from there? Then it spiraled into this and now I've got way too much planned for where this is going, although the tags do give at least some of it away.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy, and any constructive criticism is welcome!


	2. Reciprocity, Part 1

_It must be nice to get a full night’s sleep and not have to deal with ghosts,_ Danny mused idly as he was punched through a wall.

He tumbled through the empty air of the warehouse, rolling to a stop on the ground by instinct borne of being thrown around often. Danny got his feet swiftly and raised his fists, glaring at the figure standing at the Phantom shaped hole.

Decked in purple Mongol battle armour and furs was a ghost almost the size of Pariah Dark. A spectral short bow was held loosely in his hand and a quiver hung from his back, the arrows shifting colour as Danny watched them. Otherwise, he was unarmed, but Danny’s aching jaw reminded him that he didn’t really _need_ other weapons.

The giant warrior floated downwards, a jovial grin etched on his moustached face.

“Ah, alone at last with the great champion of Earth and the Ghost Zone, Danny Phantom! Your companions are to be commended. It took great effort to separate you from them for this moment!”

Danny’s face scrunched up in confusion. “I’m sorry, are you trying to tell me that setting off the museums ghost alarm and leading us on a merry chase for the last I don’t know how many hours was all to get me alone?! There _has_ to have been an easier way! Plus, I mean, I’m flattered and all, but you’re not my type.”

Phantom’s eye darted around as he traded banter with the huge ghost. _Mostly empty shelf stacks, nothing much to damage. No obvious entrance or exit – not really a problem for me, but it definitely would be for my backup, if Jumbo here hasn’t done something to them. Can’t raise them on the comm., anyway. Must’ve lost the transmitter in the RV._

The ghost threw back his head. “Ha! I had heard that your wit was sharp as a spoon! It pleases me to see this is not true. Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Khudal Khan.” He announced, inclining his head. “First, be assured that all I have done is distract and delay your allies. They have come to no harm!”

“… Thank you?” Danny said. He was thrown for a loop, somewhat. His enemies were seldom this polite. Well, this _genuinely_ polite, he amended.

“You are welcome!” Khudal boomed, inclining his head once again. “I could not allow them to interfere with our contest!”

“Our what-GYAH!” he shrieked, leaping to the side to dodge a swiftly drawn and fired black spectral arrow. The arrow embedded itself in the shelf behind him, and Danny raised his arm, green ectobeams erupting from his hands. Khudal ducked and weaved around the hastily fired blasts, before drawing a red arrow and releasing it at the floor in front of Danny.

“Ha! Missed! Wanna try that one aga-“

Khudal snapped his fingers and the arrow exploded. Danny flew backwards and crashed into one of the empty shelves, toppling it.

“When will I learn to stop tempting fate?” Danny groaned. Khudal guffawed and nocked another arrow.

“Come on, ghostling! I had heard you were made of sterner stuff than this! Get up and **fight!** ”

“If you insist,” Danny growled, gripping the edge of one of the shelves.

The next arrow struck empty air as Danny turned intangible, then solidified and swept his arm around, throwing the shelving unit. It smashed into Khudal’s face and broke into pieces, staggering the warrior enough that the pair of sickly green beams that impacted his chest knocked him a few steps backwards. Hands glowing blue, Danny hurled a wave of ice at the Mongol giant, rapidly encasing him.

No sooner had the ice formed did it begin to crack. Khudal’s massive arms shattered the constricting cold, his face a picture of wild glee. “Yes!” he roared, “This is more like the stories I have heard! This shall be a true challenge!”

He pulled a blue arrow from his quiver and fired. Danny rocketed upwards to evade it, only to find the ghostly projectile swerved from its arc to follow him. He summoned his shield and the arrow bounced off, but the instant it was dropped the wind was knocked from him as Khudal tackled him from the air, slamming them both to the ground.

“What… the _heck_ … is this about?!” Danny wheezed, pinned beneath his opponent, breathing ragged from the impact his chest took. “I don’t think we’ve even met before!”

“But who has not heard of _you_? The greatest warrior of Earth! Famed by the people of the Far Frozen for the defeat of the Ghost King! Saviour of both worlds! Many a brave soul in Valhalla would gladly seek you out to test their mettle and raise their rank!”

_Raise their rank? What on earth…? Wait, hang on._

“… Isn’t Valhalla a Viking thing?”

“It _was,_ and then my father and his soldiers conquered it!”

“You _conquered Valhalla?!_ ”

“Until they conquered it back!”

“How does tha- you know what, fight now, history later!” Danny shouted, bunching his legs beneath him and kicking hard. It budged his assailant enough that Danny could launch himself free of the constricting grip. He pirouetted away from an arrow volley, and fired back with his own barrage, not at Khudal himself, but the shelves surrounding him, toppling them. Before the behemoth could tear himself free, Danny turned intangible and rushed through him, grabbing the quiver and yanking it free of the strap.

He heaved it behind him into the corner of the warehouse and turned back to Khudal, smirking. “Let’s see how you fight without weapons, big guy!”

“If you insist!” echoed Khudal, laughing as he smashed the confining shelves apart in a single motion and leapt at lightning speed towards Danny. His fist swung round in a savage arc, catching the ghost boy in the chest as Danny lurched backwards on reflex. He staggered out of reach of the slabs of concrete that the warrior had instead of hands, clutching his ribs.

“What have my lungs ever done to you?” Danny coughed, only to dive to the side as Khudal’s punch ploughed into the ground where he had been standing. Danny rose from his roll and dashed back in. His right arm struck out, hitting the booming Mongol ghost in the chin.

To absolutely no effect.

Khudal grabbed his arm by the elbow and yanked it upwards, lifting Danny off the ground. His left met the same fate as he raised it to fire off a blast, the green energy instead blowing a hole in the ceiling. The ghost leered at him, his teeth bared in a ferocious grin.

“Ha! A foolish endeavour, ghostling. What possessed you to think you could match my strength?” the giant gloated, before noticing the smirk on the half-ghost.

“Oh, I didn’t think I could. Strength’s not really my main thing. Honestly, I was kind of planning on you grabbing me in one way or another” Danny spoke casually, his tone almost conversational.

“… Nonsense. Why would you want to be trapped in my iron grip?”

“It was the easiest way I could think to get you to hold still for _this_ ”

He opened his mouth and _screamed_.

Danny’s scream appeared to boil the air in front of him, distorting everything with sheer sonic force. The ground beneath Khudal’s feet cracked as the warrior tried futilely brace his legs, to hold himself in place. He released his grip on Danny’s arms to clap his hands around his ears, only to be driven into an involuntary series of back flips as he was propelled away from Danny. The sound of wood and plaster splintering and cracking was drowned out by the scream as Khudal was driven through the wall on the far side.

The scream petered out, and white gloved hands found black-clad knees as he gulped in lungfuls of air, bent over from the exertion. He’d gotten better about using it, it no longer completely exhausted him, but his ghostly wail was still draining. It still wasn’t something he could rely on as anything other than a trump card. Or a last resort.

He’d rather not think about which this was. What this guy lacked in versatility, he made up for in sheer strength and durability. Most of his enemies at least had the decency to be knocked around by his ectobeams, but it had taken two to even register for the brute, and even then, it had only pushed him back slightly. And much as it was a trick to get him in position, Danny knew he was far stronger than he appeared in ghost form, yet his punch had done nothing.

 _Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if even the wail wasn’t enough to-_ , he started to think, before his eyes widened, and he raised his head to look at the crater in the far side.

 _Twice! Twice in one fight do I tempt fate!_ Danny mentally griped, as debris on the other side of the hole was pushed aside, and Khudal Khan rose once again. Perhaps shakier than before, Danny noted with some satisfaction, but steady enough to carry on.

“Magnificent!” Khudal enthused, his hand grasping the edge of the wall to haul him up. “Simply magnificent! Every time I feel I have gotten your measure, you surprise me once again! Truly you have earned your reputation!” His eyes narrowed, malicious glee dancing in them. “But unless I have misremembered the tales, you are out of tricks. Now this contest goes to the strongest!”

Danny groaned, straightening up. He had one, maybe two more wails left in him before he was spent, but they wouldn’t be as powerful as the first, and he’d probably need them to be. Duplication might shorten the fight, but for the numbers he’d need it wasn’t any less draining, and his clones would have similar problems actually hurting the ghost. Stalling for back up would probably turn this into another cat and mouse chase for hours unless they got lucky. No, this needed ending and _now._

_Good thing he’s wrong about me being out of tricks, then._

As Khudal began lumbering towards him, Danny wreathed his hands in the green glow of his ectoblasts. He breathed out slowly, keeping his eyes on the accelerating Mongol warrior and focused hard on the energy that surrounded him, straining to be let loose, and willed it to compress. As he watched, the energy coalesced, drawing inwards and glowing brighter until it coated his hands like pulsating emerald gloves, a faint whine emitting from the barely contained force.

It had been something his parents had theorised a few weeks back – that he could control and direct the energy of the ectoblasts more efficiently, losing less potential energy in travel by compacting it into a smaller space before using it.

One potential application was enhanced punches.

He was trying very, very hard to ignore that he’d exploded the last time they’d tested that.

His brow furrowed with the effort of keeping the blasts contained, Danny flew directly at the now-charging Khudal, fists held out to his sides. Danny ducked under the first massive swing, feeling the wind ripple his skin as the warrior’s punch flew past. Planting his feet, Danny launched his left arm up into Khudal’s midsection.

There was a thunderous roar as the power contained in his fist detonated. Bright energy burst out between Danny’s fist and the giant’s gut as Khudal’s feet lifted off the ground and he choked out a shout of surprise before collapsing to his knees. Danny’s hand rocketed back, stinging fiercely, as he brought the other around to crash into the fallen Mongol’s jaw.

Another almighty crack and vibrant green burst, and the warrior ghost fell to the ground. “S-splendid. A worthy fight...” Khudal muttered, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell into unconsciousness.

Danny wasted no time in whipping the thermos out and sealing the ghost inside.

He also wasted no time in collapsing on the ground, panting.

Danny grasped his forearms and hissed in pain. Sprained muscles, he was pretty sure. Nothing his ghostly healing couldn’t handle in an hour or so, but that would be an hour where he couldn’t use his arms much.

“Definitely not putting the enhanced punches on regular rotation just yet.” Danny muttered to himself, trying to rub some of the pain from his arms. “At least not until I can come up with a better name, anyway. Well, and hopefully resolve the “sometimes I explode” problem.”

A few minutes of resting and amateur muscle massages later, his comm. beeped softly in his ear twice as he sat there, confirming nearby contact. His parents were closing in. _Guess they got past whatever Khudal did to slow them down,_ he thought as he tapped the earpiece. “Hey mom, dad, all good here, got the-“

“DANNO!” His comm. blared with the bombastic voice of Jack Fenton. “Hold tight, we’re busting in with attack plan theta!”

“Dad, no, it’s fine, the ghost is in the-“

Before Danny could finish his sentence, what Jack called a controlled explosion and everyone else called needlessly reckless demolitions ripped through the wall to Danny’s left, showering him with small splinters before both Jack and Maddie Fenton careened through the fourth new hole this warehouse had acquired, in their usual ghost hunting jumpsuits. Jack immediately began firing into the air wildly with his pair of ecto-pistols, whereas Maddie at least had the sense to scan around with her larger weapon, seeking a target.

“GET AWAY FROM MY SON, YOU OVERGROWN ECTOPLASMIC EXCUSE FOR A... aw, there’s no ghost” Jack pouted, lowering his guns dejectedly.

“What, don’t I count?” Danny called out wearily, picking wood from his hair.

“Oh, sweetie, of course you don’t count, you still have a heartbeat,” his mother rejoined, shouldering her oversized Fenton bazooka.

“I also set off every single ghost sensor you have in either form,” Danny pointed out.

“Yes. Well. Deeply uncomfortable questions about your mortality aside, incident report please, Danny; we’re still on the clock.”

“Well, the big guy’s been thermos’d” Danny started, waving said bit of equipment above his head. ”He said his name was Khudal Khan, he apparently wanted to fight me specifically because of my reputation.” Danny began counting off his fingers. “Had to resort to the energy compression thing we’ve talked about to beat him, didn’t blow up, so yay.”

No sense worrying them about the muscle damage, it’d go before the night was out.

“Oh, I knew it!” Enthused Maddie, her fists clenched in excitement. “I’ll have to design a whole new battery of tests to see how far you can take this!”

_... Later. Later I will tell them about the damage, ideally before I actually break my limbs running whatever gauntlet mom comes up with._

“Oh, he also mentioned he came from Valhalla. So, uh, that’s real, apparently. Dad, I don’t know when we’re planning another expedition into the Ghost Zone, but it might be worth seeing what we can dig up on-“

Danny cut himself off with a long, slow yawn. Now the adrenaline was wearing off, he could feel exhaustion starting to set in. “Uh, what time is it, anyway?”

“… Suffering spooks!” Jack exclaimed as he checked his watch. “It’s 5am! I almost lost track of the time, we’ve been chasing that massive miscreant for nearly four hours!”

A groan echoed from the half-ghost. He would get into a four-hour ghost hunt on a school night.

“Oh my! I guess we were quite caught up in the hunt!” Maddie giggled, before she paused, looking concerned. “Danny, are you going to be alright going to school today? I’m sure we could arrange something…”

“Nonsense, Maddie!” Jack interjected before Danny could answer, throwing his arm around his youngest child. “He’s the family’s premier ghost hunter! I’m sure this was all a standard night on the job for him, right, Danno?”

Danny looked up at his father’s enormous grin, his face nothing but a picture of pride and love for his son.

And behind it all, Danny could still see the guilt.

They’d both been nothing but supportive of him since he’d revealed himself. They had joined him on patrols, started designing equipment around backing him up for Sam and Tucker, and taken every opportunity to praise his ability and skill. Danny had been immensely relieved, until he had overheard them one night not long after the Disasteroid, both almost in tears. Wondering if he could ever forgive them for all they had tried to do to him before learning his identity, and if they had failed as parents because he felt he couldn’t trust them with the secret.

Neither had brought it up to Danny themselves, and he hadn’t either. How do you talk to your parents about something like this? Especially when he knew they’d feel the same regardless.

They just kept on being there for him when he needed it, and often when he _didn’t._ Jack genuinely overjoyed that ghost hunting could become the family activity he’d always wanted it to be, Maddie ever industrious in researching how best to help her son and his “unique situation”, as she called it.

Nevertheless, if you were looking for it, and Danny often was, you could occasionally see expressions of regret pass over their faces when they thought he wasn’t paying attention.

Danny tried to make it clear to them without saying that he hadn’t needed to forgive them, that he didn’t blame them for the situation, making sure to appreciate their support and do as much for them as he could. It had helped a lot. The moments of guilt had become fewer and further between.

Which is why, instead of admit to being absolutely exhausted and make them fret that they were to blame for not thinking of it, he mustered a grin and a thumbs up.

“It’s OK, mom. Dad’s right, this isn’t much different than other days.” Not really a lie, either – it’s just those had been the days they’d gotten calls from the school about him sleeping in class.

The quickly hidden wave of relief on their faces almost made up for the sleep-deprivation.

Almost.

It was closer to 6am by the time Danny got home. His parents had opted to stay with the RV – apparently the latest ghost in his parade of headaches had arrows able to knock out technology, had crippled the vehicle that way, and they wanted to try to fix it.

Quite how the spirit of a Mongol warrior had an EMP arrow, he couldn’t even begin to fathom, nor did he particularly care right now.

_Coffee. Horrible, horrible coffee will let me survive till lunch at least._

He phased through the front door, not even bothering to transform back to his human form. One of the perks he enjoyed the most about his secret being known – he could just use his powers openly now without having to hide from anyone except the paparazzi, and good luck taking pictures when he’s invisible, jerks!

His yawn whilst the coffee machine did its thing went long, his breath hitching midway through. At the least, being up this early would give him plenty of time to get ready and try to wake himself up. The bright sides of compensating for about 2-3 hours of sleep.

 _You’ll be fine, Fenton, you’ve done this before and come out alright,_ he lied to himself as he poured the coffee and made his way to the kitchen table, _plus maybe the school’ll cut me some slack if I tell them everything._

He doubted it, though. At best, they’d probably just send him home, which just means all Danny has done is delay making his parents guilty and also not slept.

As much as they did give him allowances because of his powers and responsibilities, Mr. Lancer was adamant about not treating him significantly differently. It was a godsend when he tried to make Danny’s life easier as far as fans and the press went, and letting him just be a regular student, in his class at least. He also made sure to provide his office as a space for Danny to work if fans were particularly obnoxious that day, or the library wasn’t an option.

However, he was firm in making sure he got the best education he could, which meant not much leniency for evading work. He would get extensions on homework in the event of ghost related emergencies, and he could respond to incidents during school hours with similar help provided, but that was about it. Anything else had to go through his parents as usual.

Danny was sure he’d eventually appreciate both the carrot and the stick when it came time for college applications or just passing in general. Eventually. Maybe.

“Hey, dipstick”

“G’morning, Ember”

He took a swig of his coffee.

...

Which made a _fascinating_ pattern when sprayed at high speeds onto a tablecloth.

A raucous cackle filled the room as he wiped his mouth and twisted his head around to see Ember standing in the middle of the kitchen he’d just vacated, doubled over, her face creased with laughter.

“Ember?! What the... when did...”

“Bwa ha ha ha! I didn’t think... you’d freak out... like that!” Ember said between laughing fits. “That went way better than I figured it would! Ha!” She wiped her eyes, laughter fading, replaced by an immense grin. “How did you _not_ see me coming, baby pop? Last I checked I should still set off your vapour breath.”

Danny’s sleep deprived brain took a few seconds to catch up to current events, and then he groaned.

“Ugh... ghost sense must’ve gone off while I was yawning and I didn’t notice... Jeez...” He murmured, and slapped himself. At least Ember’s little surprise had startled him into waking up a bit.

“Seriously?” Ember rolled her eyes, still smirking at the ghost boy. “You managed to miss the only guaranteed warning you get that people who hate your guts are around. How in the heck have you survived this long?”

“A combination of luck, creativity and most of you actually being dumber somehow” Danny replied blearily, rubbing his palm into his eyes. When Ember looked offended, Danny just shrugged. “I beat you the first time by having my friend sing terrible karaoke; you really don’t get to be annoyed.”

“Oh, whatever,” Ember dismissed the topic with a wave of her hand.

“Speaking of whatever, why are you here?” Danny asked, drinking from his cup as if he’d just found water in the Sahara and grimacing. Coffee really was disgusting. “Actually, no, better question – why are you here at _6am?_ ”

“Why are you _up_ at 6am?” Ember shot back, arms folded and grinning again. She seemed to take glee in childishly arguing with him, which he’d probably reciprocate were he not reasonably sure he was in danger of passing out if he stood up too fast.

“That’s kind of inevitable when some new ghost with a thing for playing cat and mouse and punching me in the lungs decides to show up and run around town for about four hours in the middle of the night,” he deadpanned, gesturing vaguely at a chair. “So that’s me, your turn.”

Danny could feel his brain niggling away at him whilst the bickering carried on, trying to tell him something important, but it was struggling to get through the haze. Something to do with Ember, and why he wasn’t surprised she wasn’t trying to kill him, just banter.

Ember grabbed the nearest chair, and twisted it around to straddle it, resting her crossed arms on the back. “I guessed sometime like this’d be the only time I could catch you without anyone else around, baby pop.”

“You have way too much faith in my ability to wake up on time to actually do things in the morning.”

“Yet here we are” she retorted smugly.

“... I feel like I should argue about that, but I really can’t” he groused, slurring his words slightly and draining the last of the coffee.

All of a sudden, the clouds of his mind cleared as the caffeine hit his system and the urgent message of his brain finally began blaring at the forefront of his mind. His eyes bolted open.

“... Oh! Um... is this... are you here because of the deal?”

“Yeah. Well, sort of. What, you think I came by for your company?”

“I have been told I’m a _delight,_ thank you,” Danny huffed. Ember just snorted in response. Then, for the first time since she’d appeared, Ember smirk faltered, the easy confidence and mischievous amusement freezing for a split second before returning.

“Have you... uh, told anyone about that? Our little truce, I mean.”

“Not in so many words, no.” At Ember’s raised eyebrow, he elaborated, propping up his head on his hand. It was getting harder to hold it up. “I turned off my radio to talk to an enemy with mind control powers. Pretty sure I’ve still got Jazz’s hand print on the back of my head for that one,” Danny chuckled, rubbing his scalp.

“I had to tell my family _something_ about what happened. Nothing that you said!” he near-shouted, forestalling the growing anger on her face.

“I promised I wouldn’t, and I didn’t. I just said we talked; it ended peacefully despite your _cheating_ ,” a brief glare at the ghost girl, which only got a smug laugh in return, “and something like it may happen again. Wasn’t expecting, like, 2 days later, but...”

He lazily spread his free hand at the table containing the two of them.

“And that’s all? You couldn’t come up with anything better?”

“At least half a dozen stories. But I’m trying not to lie anymore. Not to them. I just asked them to take it on trust.”

Ember blinked at that, her expected quip dying on her lips. Was she legitimately surprised at his family’s confidence in him, or was Danny reading too much into it? He couldn’t tell. Probably, though. If he wasn’t clueless, he was overanalysing.

“You still haven’t said what-” Danny started, before his head became too heavy to hold. It slipped from his hand and his forehead crashed onto the table painfully, snapping Ember from her bewilderment to guffaw again.

“Why is my pain always amusing” he grumbled, not bothering to get back up as Ember kept on laughing.

“Oh my god, you are a _gift,_ Phantom, a _gift_ to comedy! Ha!” Ember held her sides as she giggled. “I was just here to try to hash out some of the practicalities of our deal, but you are way too out of it. Get some sleep, dipstick, I’ll be back later,” she said, occasional noises of amusement escaping her as she got up and made for the basement door.

“Can’t. Gotta go to school soon” Danny mumbled from his position on the table.

He heard rather than saw her stop.

“You’ve gotta do what?”

“School. You know. That thing people our age do on weekdays... actually, how old are you?” Danny queried, raising his head to look a half-focused eye at Ember.

“Never mind that, are you actually nuts? You can’t even keep what little brain you’ve got from hitting the deck, never mind something as complex as putting one foot in front of the other. What, doesn’t Casper High let their _beloved hero_ take breaks when he’s saving their butts?” Ember snarked, her hands on her hips as she glared at him.

“If something happens during school time, sure. Otherwise, I gotta be there,” Danny replied, the sight of an angry Ember kicking his adrenaline response in again.

_Old habits, I guess._

“Why do you care, anyway?” he asked, his face a picture of confusion. Sure, they were trying to help each other out, but that was as much self-interest as anything else. Right?

Ember opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it, adopting a thoughtful expression.

That slowly morphed into a wild grin. Somehow Danny found this more worrying.

“If something happens _during_ school time, huh?” Ember challenged, her guitar appearing in a veil of flame in her hands.

_Oh no._

“Ember, _don’t-_ “ Danny started, but too late – she surrounded herself with purple smoke and vanished, the beginning of her cackle echoing as she teleported.

“... Fudge buckets” he whispered, placing his head back on the table.

Before turning himself intangible and hurling himself out of the house, after the ghostly diva, grabbing his bag as he went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Khudal Khan voiced by Brian Blessed.
> 
> Yeah, that whole sequence got out of hand when I was writing it, thus splitting what was supposed to be one chapter into two. Ah well, hopefully this means I'll get the next out quicker.


	3. Reciprocity, Part 2

_Good morning Amity Park, this is Amity News at 8, I’m your new anchor, Lance Thunder._

_And I’m Tiffany Snow. Welcome to the desk, Lance._

_Thank you, great to be here. Today’s top story, it appears that the life of a superhero never stops, as Amity Park’s very own Danny Phantom has been spotted roaming the town in pursuit of one Ember McLain, after an already action packed night, right Tiffany?_

_That’s right, Lance. As seen here in our exclusive footage, the world famous Phantom defeated a new threat to the town in quite an explosive manner, after a 4 hour chase through the streets. However, not long after that, a more familiar enemy made her appearance in downtown Amity, necessitating Phantom’s return to action._

_Citizens are advised to stay away from Ms. McLain, as she has numerous abilities considered hazardous to health both physical and mental. Initial reports suggest she has only engaged in minor mischief and vandalism thus far, but as with most ghosts on record, that is subject to change._

_Still, it’s bound to be some comfort to everyone that Ember doesn’t appear to be using her mind control, eh, Lance?_

_I don’t know, Tiffany, I always thought there was something appealing about being Ms. McLain’s slave._

_... What did you-?_

_I’m sorry, Tiffany, we’re getting a breaking news story: News anchor Lance Thunder has been demoted back to weatherman for inappropriate comments about a minor... Wait, what?_

* * *

“Is she actually faster than me, or am I just tired?” Danny wondered to himself as he flew past the third wall that had the words “Ember was here” and an arrow giving her current path burned into them , blue flame flickering at the edges. It was hardly a subtle way of directing him, but Danny doubted anything less direct would get through his skull right now.

Naturally, however, Ember hadn’t restricted herself to just leaving him glaringly obvious messages. No, if she was going to grab attention, she was going to _grab attention._ Danny had already had to dodge one news chopper following Ember’s path of… _destruction_ was probably too serious. _Annoyance_ was more apt. Signs and outdoor furniture knocked over by her sonic blasts, impromptu jam sessions held above major intersections, lasting juuuuust long enough to induce shouting matches in commuters and for Danny to fly back into sight before she took off again, random objects that cannot burn set aflame with physics-defying ghost fire…

Admittedly, Danny found the flaming fire hydrants funny, in an ironic way.

Still, though. Stopping ghostly annoyances was more or less one half of his unofficial job. Except usually, he at least knew why the ghosts were causing trouble (distressingly, a large chunk of the reasons seemed to be boredom). Here, he really wasn’t sure what her goal _was_. He still didn’t trust her, per se, but he doubted there was an ulterior motive here. Not her style to hide what she’s after. However, even trying to get him out of school didn’t make much sense. Sure, she was keeping him out for however long she could keep this up for, but it wasn’t exactly helping his sleep issue. Which… seemed to be what she was bothered by? Honestly, Danny couldn’t read her at all right now – what about the whole situation prompted this? What was she hoping to accomplish?

Danny shook his head. He couldn’t think straight about this right now. He’d leave the whys for when he wasn’t sleep deprived. For now, he just had to get her to stop.

Easier said than done. A few times he had been sure he was about to catch her, only for Ember to put on a fresh burst of speed he struggled to keep up with, or she set something on fire he had to put out then and there. It didn’t help that he was definitely slowing down as the chase wore on.

Danny rounded the corner of building in time to see Ember on the further end. Giving him a mocking salute, she span away from him and rocketed away, laughter carried on the wind, her hair blasting flame behind her.

_Oh, is that why she’s faster, because she’s using her hair as a rocket? ... Wow. The sentences I’ve had to construct since freshman year have just gotten weirder and weir- FOCUS, FENTON._

Danny launched himself after her, pouring on as much speed as he could, school bag flapping in the breeze behind him. As before, Ember kept pulling away until she was far ahead, a flaming spark in the distance. This time, though, she made no effort to hide herself or truly shake Danny off. In fact, she seemed to be heading somewhere in particular now. Danny’s eyes flickered off to nearby landmarks, trying to get some hint of where he was being lead.

_Nasty Burger, Amity Public Library, the VRCade...Wait, this is all on the way to-_

_Aw, heck._

* * *

Casper High was having its usual morning. That is to say, the unofficial and never ending contest for attention was in full swing amongst the popular students, to the occasional detriment of the unpopular crowd as one A-Lister or another decided to punish some non-existent infraction. Those who didn’t quite fit into either category either uncomfortable witnesses or entirely apathetic.

Whatever new status conferring object was flaunted, ludicrous stunts performed for recognition and kudos from the top the hierarchy. Friend groups socialised, relishing in the chance to talk openly before the bell would plunge them into yet another day of education.

The fact that a ghostly rock star/villainess could impact the ground directly in front of the schools entrance like a blazing blue meteor and not be all that far out of the usual morning routine spoke _volumes._

“HELLOOOOOO, CASPER HIGH!” Ember cried, amplifying her voice as she raised her hands above her head and sent off a few harmless fire spurts that exploded in the air. “I know, I know, been a while since I’ve come through! Did you miss me?!”

The expected chorus of screams, boos and a few actual cheers reached her ears, and she grinned brightly. A few people ran off, but most stuck around, a few even getting their phones out to record whatever she was about to do.

“That’s what I like to hear! Nice to see I can still hold a crowd! But don’t worry your empty little heads. I’m not here for my _loyal fans_ ,” she drawled sarcastically. “I just need one of you in particular! Anybody seen the dipstick?!”

Blank stares and confusion from the crowd.

“You know who I mean! Baby pop?”

Still the mass of people collectively shrugged. Ember slapped her hand to her face.

“Who else would I be here for, you idiots? Phantom. Fenton. Danny! Any of you seen Danny?!”

“What do you want with _my_ ghost boy?!” a voice towards the back shouted shrilly, accompanied by the mob parting to let the owner of the voice through. Tall, long wavy black hair, bright pink top, an otherwise beautiful countenance marred by an expression of mixed jealousy and contempt, she pushed her way to the front. Something about her caused Ember to bristle.

“ _Your_ ghost boy? Huh. News to me. Last I heard he was still dating the spooky girl,” Ember remarked with some disdain. The dark haired beauty just scowled at that.

“Ugh, you are _so_ behind the times, you _throwback_. They split 6 months ago. Now he’s all mine! Or he will be, anyway...” she muttered.

“So not yours then.” Ember smirked. “Aww, is shaking your hips at him not working?”

“Shut up! We _will_ be together! I just misread the story!”

For the first time since arriving, Ember didn’t have a response beyond a flat “… What.”

“I _thought_ we were in a fairy tale, that once he’d rescued me and saved the world we’d get married. Totally the wrong genre. He’s a superhero, so we have to dance around each other for a while before we kiss in the sky and stay together forever! He’s just playing hard to get!”

“… Yuh-huh. If any of that happens, then baby pop has less sense than I gave him credit for,” Ember deadpanned. “Anyone _not_ delusional know where he- Never mind, one dipstick incoming right now!”

A fierce smile spread across her features as Danny finally caught up to Ember and landed on the far side of the now-cheering crowd, which immediately split in two, creating a corridor of people between the hero and the ghost.

“Guys, you need to clear-“Danny shouted, but not loud enough to overpower the collective of fans roaring encouragement to him, seemingly oblivious to the danger.

“Woo! Go Danny! Kick her butt!”

“Ghostly wail! Do the ghostly wail!”

“He is risen to battle the forces of the infernal enemy!”

Ember tilted her head quizzically at that last one. Danny just rolled his eyes and gave a look of exasperated annoyance, which only intensified when the pink irritant tackled him in an entirely unwelcome hug. A few whoops and wolf whistles erupted from the audience.

“Oh, Danny! She’s been so horrible to me! You’ll take care of her, won’t you?” she simpered, doe eyes looking up at him adoringly. If she could feel Ember’s eyes drilling into the back of her head, she made no reference to it.

“Paulina, would you get off,” Danny complained tiredly, trying to shake her loose. Paulina’s grip was deceptively vice-like however, and it was an embarrassing few seconds for him to remember he could turn intangible. When he did, she suddenly stumbled through ‘her’ ghost boy, and pouted at him, before retreating back slightly, intent on playing the “concerned and highly visible girlfriend” during whatever happened here.

“No, no, by all means, take your time, dipstick. Not like there’s a dangerous enemy right in front of you,” she snarked, foot tapping impatiently, unimpressed with the whole debacle.

“If you do say so yourself,” he shot back with heavy sarcasm, adjusting his backpack from the unwanted assault, earning a bark of laughter from the ghost girl. “Alright, Ember, you wanted my attention, you got it. What are you after?” Danny demanded, arms folded. If she wanted to play a game, then fine. He was good at those.

“You got some business in the Ghost Zone with me, Phantom. Gotta be you as well, otherwise I wouldn’t even bother looking you up. You gonna come quietly, or am I gonna have to make some noise first?” Ember threatened, a menacing expression on her face as her guitar began spouting gouts of flame.

_... This IS an act, right?_

“As tempting as an offer to go somewhere alone for some vague reason from someone who’s tried to kill me is, I’m going to have to decline,” Danny quipped.

He really, really hoped Ember wasn’t being serious. He was trying to hide how tired he was, but if it did come down to a fight, even a mock one, he wasn’t sure he could last very long. A few faces in the crowd, those who knew him a little better, were looking concerned – he probably wasn’t doing the best job faking it.

“Aww, isn’t that sweet, you thought I was giving you a choice!”

Flashing Danny a grin, Ember vanished, swallowed up by the ground as she turned intangible.

A few scattered noises of disappointment emerged from his audience, hoping for some knockdown brawl. Danny kept his guard up though, as much as he could. No way was Ember going to give up that easily.

“OK, everyone, I know this has been fun, but I’m going to need you all to get out of here before a fight breaks out,” he called out to the mass of students. Even as he said it, he staggered forward slightly as something crashed into him from behind.

“Danny, you were just magnificent as always! Just the kind of rescue I’d expect from my ghost boy” Paulina cooed, moving around to his front and giving him what she no doubt thought was a seductive look. “You know, if you want, I know somewhere we won’t be disturbed so I can show my _appreciation.”_

 _Why for the love of all that’s good was I ever into her_ , Danny thought, irritation writ all over his face.

“Really? You pick _now_ to try this? Paulina, get out of here, Ember’s still around, she could pop up any-“Danny was interrupted as the bell sounded loudly. The people jolted, suddenly remembering where they were, but still seemed reluctant to leave the likely site of a Phantom battle.

The instant the ringing of the bell finished its echo, Danny felt the ghostly vapour escape his mouth as a pair of pale blue arms emerged from behind him, snaking themselves around his chest, holding on tight and pulling him from Paulina.

“Gotcha!” Ember triumphantly shouted into his ear, as his vision became clouded by purple smoke. He heard the gasps of the crowd and the petulant shouting of Paulina fade swiftly, replaced by the sound of rushing wind and Ember’s dark chuckle.

* * *

He wasn’t sure if it had been an eternity or an instant when the smoke cleared from the pair of ghosts, leaving them both in a... void? Danny found he couldn’t see properly, his eyes refusing to focus on the details of wherever they were, the edges of his vision black and eyelids heavy. All he could make out was thick shadow, with some edges of other objects here and there. He barely noticed Ember releasing him from her grip.

“Well, that went pretty well, huh, baby pop? Think they bought the act? What am I saying, of course they did!” Ember smiled at Danny as he stumbled round to face her. “You’re not too bad at playing to a crowd, dipstick.”

“’’mber?” Danny slurred, words feeling thick in his mouth. “Where’re we? Why do I feel worse...”

“My realm, back in the Ghost Zone, with an airtight alibi for why you aren’t at school right now – I figure a known enemy seeking you out and/or kidnapping you’s gotta count, right? You’re welcome, by the way.”

“W-what?! Oh, man, I gotta... gotta let my parents...” he stuttered, hauling a phone from his bag and unlocking it before it fell from his slack grip.

“You’re doing nothing but getting some sleep, you idiot. What is with you?” Ember might have sounded frustrated, but Danny wasn’t listening.

“I can’t... I _can’t..._ ” he whispered to himself, an edge of panic to his words.

“Yeah, still not giving you a choice, dipstick,” Ember said coolly, examining her nails. “See, teleporting always takes it out of you, and going between dimensions is even worse. Me, I’m just winded, gonna take a cat nap. You, who decided to go longer than 24 hours without anything resembling rest, on the other hand?”

She reached out a hand slowly to Danny’s forehead, pressed her index finger against it and pushed slightly. Danny found himself toppling backwards, unable to stop himself from landing on something soft.

“Rockabye, baby pop. We’re gonna have a talk when you wake up,” were the last words he heard before blackness engulfed his vision and sleep claimed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to put this up like this because I wanted to ask – would you guys prefer shorter, more frequent updates or longer and less frequent? At the pace I’m setting currently, I could probably do my usual 4.5-5k in two weeks, or about half that in a week, and it wouldn’t alter plans too much – most current chapters going forward would work under either, I just feel things are more complete with the 5k ones. Next one will be another about this length regardless, and the length will probably vary if I think it needs it, but in general which is preferred?  
> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy and I take any feedback you feel necessary!  
> Also I am far too proud of “Rockabye, baby pop”.


	4. Reciprocity, Part 3

_9:02 am_

The front door to Fenton Works was flung open to admit a tired and agitated Jack and Maddie Fenton, Jack pointedly slamming the door behind him in the faces of a few altogether too eager photographers. If there was one downside Jack was willing to admit about finally being a famous ghost hunter, alongside his wife and son of course, it’s that every time there was a successful operation, the family was in for a few days of media frenzy. Couple that with Danny fighting a new ghost, decent security camera footage leaked to the news, and showing off a new power (or in this case a new application of an old power, but the delicate nuances of ectobiology were lost on these _vultures_ ), and it was likely this was going to be a bad one.

“Remind me to talk to the mayor about extending the no-go zone on the house” Jack muttered to his wife as they divested themselves of the heavier equipment they’d carried with them. The RV was still fried; needing parts beyond what the Fenton’s had on hand to get it working again, so they had decided, with minimal whining on Jack’s part, he _swears_ , to just haul the more important things aboard home themselves.

“Good idea, honey. I think Tucker’s coming round in a few days time for a game day with Danny and Sam, so maybe ask then,” Maddie replied absently, fiddling with the toaster. “You know, I think I’ve hit my second wind. I’ll do some work on the Astral Specter Detector until I need to sleep.”

Jack raised his eyebrows at that, but thought better of questioning it and nodded his assent. Being able to detect ghosts throughout the solar system was not strictly a priority, but as Maddie had said, best to build for the future now, and who was he to argue? Who knows when the ectoplasmic fiends would be driven off the planet by their sterling work, after all.

Besides, she was like a true force of nature when she got going. He loved to watch her work, and wonder why on Earth someone so brilliant chose him of all people.

“Anything I can help with, sweetheart?” he asked instead, cheery grin plastered on his face.

“No, it’s mostly just code and calculations right now, dear. Why don’t you run some more scans with the new data from Danny? I’m certain we can narrow down a location soon,” She said in a mollifying tone, seeing his face go downcast. Jack was an amazing engineer, but code and less practical math eluded him. He perked up again immediately.

“Great idea! I got some good readings from South America last time, I’ll start there!”

Jack hummed happily, idly scrolling through his Fenton phone as he drank his coffee, in high hopes of tracking down someone who he already considered a member of the Fenton family despite not yet meeting her. Checking local news, he’s quite proud to see his son front and centre again, defending the town. So proud, in fact, he almost doesn’t notice...

“Oh, Danny’s been kidnapped,” he commented casually, and then snapped his head up at the sound of cracking porcelain to see shards of what was once a plate drop from Maddie’s fist.

“He’s been WHAT?!”

* * *

_9:43 am_

“Is the Specter Speeder ready to go?!” Maddie shouted from the far end of the lab, packing up her third bag of weapons.

“Fuelled and ready to fly! Danny’s suit readings are coming in clear, but it still can’t pinpoint a location!” Jack shouted back from the main computer. “Darn it, I thought we’d mapped out the zone enough that that wouldn’t happen anymore!”

“The non-linear topographical nightmare that is the Ghost Zone aside? The pocket dimensions the ghosts call ‘realms’ effectively block any method of tracking we’ve discovered so far, so he’s probably in one of those,” Maddie theorised, hurling the weapon bag into the back of the Speeder.

“And I bet I know whose,” Jack rumbled, pulling up Ember’s profile. Under current status, it read ‘No Longer Hostile – Unconfirmed’.

“I’d say abduction is pretty hostile! When I get my hands on that ghost, I’m going to rip her apart, MOLECULE-“

_Bzzzzt._

Jack’s rage was stalled at the ringing of his phone, and dissipated entirely when he saw who was calling. He snatched it up hastily, putting it on speakerphone as Maddie rushed to it.

“Danny?!”

 _“Hey, pops!”_ Danny’s voice replied. _“Just got the chance to call you guys now. Seen the news already, I take it?”_

“Yes! Oh, thank goodness you’re alright! Are you hurt? Do you need any help?” Maddie rapidly shouted into the phone.

 _“Mom, chill, it’s alright!”_ Danny laughed. _“I’m not in any trouble. Ember grabbed me because she found something that isn’t exactly a problem_ now, _but’ll probably become one if I don’t stop it soon. Better safe than sorry, I figured. Nothing dangerous though, I’ve got this!”_

“Any idea when you’ll be back, son?” Jack asked brightly, though his expression was carefully neutral. “It’s taco night!”

_“... Well, obviously I’m not going to miss taco night, pops! Definitely before evening, though I can’t say for sure. Maybe around 4, 5 in the afternoon?”_

“That’s fine then, dear. We’re just relieved you’re safe.”

_“I am! See you later, guys!”_

* * *

Ember ended the call and flung the phone onto away from her, watching it land with a soft bounce on her couch. She put a hand to her throat, massaging it – imitating voices was pretty easy to do, all things considered, but it still felt weird every time she did it.

“I think they fell for it! Ha, suckers!” She gloated, before stretching herself out over the soft cushions to doze off.

* * *

“That wasn’t Danny,” Maddie stated flatly. Jack shook his head.

“Danny doesn’t call me pops. And we don’t _have_ taco night.”

“Into the Speeder, we’ve got to track down someone who knows where Ember’s realm is, break in and get our boy back from that _witch_ of a rockstar!”

“Right! ... Say, Mads-“

“Yes, we can have tacos tonight, Jack.”

“Woohoo!”

* * *

_2:03 pm_

_Huh. The room is actually just this black,_ Danny thought absently, as his eyes forced their way open and he pulled something papery off his face.

Whatever room Ember had left him in didn’t seem totally defined, for want of a better word. It wasn’t all that big, maybe a dozen square feet, and everything in it looked like a silhouette. The love seat he had been sleeping on was solid black, without any kind of real texture or shade to it. Besides a coffee table and a nondescript box looking thing, both of which shared the featureless black, the room was empty, the walls devoid of any decoration.

“What is this, the ghostly equivalent of a storage closet?” he mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and rising up on unsteady legs. Checking himself over, he wasn’t hurt, nothing was missing from his bag except his phone. A few aches from sleeping on a smaller than usual sofa, but he had to admit, he did feel better for however much sleep he got.

He checked the note that had been left on his head. All it read was “Find me in the living room. Just shout for me. E”.

 _Yeah, great, excellent directions._ _OK, which way is out of here. Who knows what’s happened while I’ve been gone._

He cracked the door open, after some brief fumbling to find the knob on the pitch black door, and stepped out. Once the door shut behind him, it seemed to vanish, the silhouette melting into the cloth. The corridor was oddly narrow, black curtains draped over the walls which curved around, with multicoloured wires trailing the floor and odd bits of cylindrical metal poking out at random intervals, broken up by occasional solid doors.

“Oh, it’s like being backstage at a concert... I hate that this makes sense to me,” he grumbled, looking down the corridor. No sign posting, no obvious way out; only trip hazards and poorly lit, narrow walkways. “Yup, definitely backstage.”

Danny threw up his hands and took the left path – Leaving things to chance made as much sense as anything else right now.

* * *

_2:25 pm_

Danny yanked his head back out of the door and wiped the tomato from his face. Great. Trust Ember to have a room in her realm dedicated solely to a stage where anyone who _isn’t_ her gets abuse and projectiles from an indistinct crowd. Danny wasn’t sure whether to call that narcissism or the greatest non-lethal trap ever – only hurts your targets ego. He patted his head as he recalled some of the heckles. His hair wasn’t _that_ stupid looking, right?

This had been the fourth door he’d tried – the first led into a frankly gargantuan Greek-esque temple, with multiple classic guitars in pride of place as idols to be revered. The other, directly opposite the house of guitar worship, was what Danny referred to as The Burning Room, which was just a room full of mundane household objects that were all burning with differently hued fire.

The third, further down, was an otherwise normal bathroom, save for the fact everything was tilted ninety degrees and coloured hot pink.

Realms were _weird_.

Danny sighed in frustration and examined his surroundings again. Somewhere along the way, the aesthetics had started to change – there were still backstage elements, like the wires he would fumble over and curse every now and then, but the floor was carpeted now and the single corridor widened out. It was beginning to resemble an actual home, if that home had carpet that looked and moved like blue fire.

“Oh, the heck with this – Ember! EMBER! I’d like to get out Salvador Dali’s maze now, please! Where are you?!”

His words gave the tiniest echo as nothing answered him. Until, a few seconds later:

“Through here!”

Danny blinked. Her voice came from the door he’d just closed, which was suddenly emblazoned with a blue flame symbol.

“That worked?! How did you _do_ that? I just came out of that room!”

“It’s my realm, dingus; I can do what I want! Messing with doors and hearing you whine is the least of it! Now open up!”

He hesitated.

“Ember, I’m not going back on stage to be booed and pelted with perfectly good food!” he called out to the air.

“Wait, you’re outside _that_ one?” Ember’s voice asked gleefully. When next she spoke, it came from a little further down. “OK, go through again, and smile, you’re on camera!”

“Ha, ha,” he deadpanned, reaching for the door he’d last heard her voice through.

Hallelujah, a normal room. Sort of. Sure, the whole thing was a weird set of descending plateaus into a pit that seemed to be all couch cushions and giant TV, and the colour scheme was all blacks and blues and the carpet looked like it was on fire but at least it was recognisably a living room, just the kind designed and occupied by someone very into eccentric home decor.

So, a perfect fit for the lounging confidant/kidnapper in the far corner of the couch pit surrounded by pillows.

“Well would you look at that, it’s the waking dead!” Ember laughed up at him. A grin forced its way to Danny’s face before he could stop it. Puns were his only weakness.

“OK, that wasn’t too bad. Kinda figured you’d go for a Grateful Dead joke, though. Seems more your thing.”

“Why, you grateful? Sure didn’t seem that way when you got here,” Ember said, the mirth still there on her face, but Danny could spot even from up high it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Those seemed... annoyed? Concerned? Concernnoyed? He wasn’t sure. They’d probably need to get to know each other a lot better before he could read her. Or maybe not. Clueless was his middle name for a reason.

He rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, I’m, uh, sorry about that. Guess the lack of sleep got to me more than I thought,” he chuckled weakly. There was a moment of silence where Ember just looked at him, before gesturing at him.

“Well, come on down, dipstick! Couch is pretty comfy. Plus, like I said, we need to talk.”

 _I don’t think there’s a sentence more likely to get me nervous,_ he mused, but still drifted down the plateau’s to join her on the opposite end. It really was quite soft; he could swear he was sinking into the thing.

“Anyway, Ember, I _am_ grateful for this, I really am. It wasn’t going to be a good day to try to get through with no sleep, but I need to get back soon. My parents alone-”

“They’re bamboozled! They think you’re here doing a little preventative measure I clued you into,” Ember interrupted, smiling widely. She picked up and waggled his Fenton phone at him. “Thanks for unlocking this before you passed out, by the by, couldn’t have fooled them otherwise.”

“Oh... Well, what about the town? Has anyone-“

Ember snapped her fingers, and the TV sprang to life. Another snap and it switched to the local news station.

_... And I’m reliably informed that, although the town currently lacks its most famous protector, the Red Huntress will be performing her duties as usual. As of yet, there have been no incidents of ghostly activity beyond the mild mischief of Ms. McLain this morning..._

Ember snapped her fingers again, muting the TV and raised an eyebrow at Danny, daring him to raise any further objections. For his part, he just looked mildly stunned.

“So... The town isn’t under threat? Nobody’s in danger?”

“Nah. Not a thing’s gone wrong, so far. I think my little pop-up performance’s gonna be the only interesting thing that happens all day.” She leaned back, the flames of her hair licking in-between the pillows she was resting against. “So. There’s nothing stopping us from talking, is there?”

“I-I guess not,” Danny stammered, confused. _I took a day and... Nothing happened?_

“Good. Today’s topic of conversations is none other than the dipstick sat in front of me, Danny Fenton!” Ember announced, conjuring a microphone from fire and imitating a talk show host. “Namely, _what the heck is wrong with you?!”_ she roared, the amplified sound blowing his hair backwards. His hands shot to cover his ears.

“OW! What was that for?!”

“For being an absolute raving lunatic, that’s what!” she rebutted, the microphone vanishing in a puff of flame. “Seriously? You get no sleep, exhaust yourself fighting a juggernaut and you were still so determined to go to _school,_ of all things, that I had to _shanghai you_ to get you to take care of yourself!

“Now I don’t think you’re _that_ much of an idiot, and unless you’re way more boy scout-y than I realised, it wasn’t because of some insanely overblown sense of responsibility either. So what I wanna know is – why?”

Ember fixed him with a hard stare. Danny squirmed against the couch a little.

“Why what?” he stalled, unable to quite meet her eyes.

“Why do something so _stupid_? You can’t tell me you don’t have the clout to just blow off school for a day. It’s not like that fight was secret, either, they had footage on the news – awesome punch, by the way,” she smirked. “So you wouldn’t be taking the day for no reason, either. C’mon, you’re the one who said not to bottle this stuff up.”

“Using my own words against me is cheating!”

“Tough. Spill.”

Danny sighed and relaxed as much as he could. She was right, after all.

“OK. Alright. So, not too long after my secret spilled, I heard my parents talking. Like, in tears, about how they’d failed as parents because they hadn’t noticed what was going on, and I didn’t think I could trust them with it all. It’s been getting better lately, I think just because they’re helping and I’m trying to show I appreciate it, you know?

“But last night, I could _see_ them guilt out about not thinking about me and my sleep until it got brought up. So I told them I was fine, and since the school needs their permission for me to take a day, I was stuck. I just... don’t want to give them any more reason to feel guilty. I’ve done enough of that,” He finished, quietly. The silence stretched out as Ember looked at him appraisingly.

“Nope,” she eventually declared.

“... What?”

“Nope. That’s not it. If you’d told me that in your kitchen, I’d have believed you then, sounds like the right level of goody goody. But I’m pretty sure that’s not why you did it.”

“Hey, that _is_ why!” Danny retorted, growing annoyed. “Do I need another reason besides not wanting to hurt my parents?”

“This morning? No. But when I got you here, perfect alibi and all, I’d thought of a few ways you might react. I figured it was a slim chance you’d be in on the whole plan from the off and just thank me and pass out. More likely, griping about scaring people, worrying about me doing all that, or whatever. Y’know what wasn’t on my list?

“Fear. I didn’t expect you to be downright _terrified_ of not being there, of taking some time for yourself. So what happened, baby pop? What made you so afraid of being a little selfish now and then?”

Danny froze, his eyes widening.

**_You still turn into me._ **

He shook his head in hopes of clearing a face that came unbidden to his mind, a face all too like his own. A face that twisted and mocked anything he said or did. A face he was determined to never, ever become.

One look Ember told him she knew she’d struck home, a small quirk of satisfaction on her face. He opened his mouth, intent on making any excuse he could think of before stopping himself. He breathed out, slowly. There wasn’t really a way out of this. Not without undermining this whole truce and getting back to business as usual with Ember. Which he found he didn’t want. It was... nice, having someone he _could_ tell about the worst parts of his head, and help with theirs in turn. It made a change from just blasting problems.

He snorted to himself. If he’d been told just 3 days ago the person he’d end up spilling his issues to would be _Ember McLain,_ he would probably have laughed for a minute straight. A part of him worried if this truce of theirs would last long, and what would happen after, but he dismissed it. Right now, it didn’t matter.

Still...

“I... uh... D-do you mind if we... build up to that? It’s, um, it’s kind of a lot,” he stammered. The stare she was fixing him with softened somewhat before she shrugged.

“Sure. We got time. What did you wanna talk about instead?”

Danny’s mind drew an instant blank, and he groped around for any topic that came to mind.

Naturally, his brain settled on the stupidest option.

“Why isn’t your hair burning those pillows?” he blurted out. Ember choked out a sound of surprise before laughing.

“Seriously? That’s your go to? Ha! If you really wanna know, my fire only burns when I want it to, dipstick,” she replied, chuckling to herself.

“Oh, like a Ponyta.”

“Like a what now?”

“... Oh, OK, _now_ I know what we’re talking about,” Danny enthused, reaching into his bag to pull out a rectangular device. “Ember, I’m gonna introduce you to a fine, wholesome game of deeply unethical animal cage fighting...”

* * *

_2:53_

“BEWAAAAAAAAAAAARE!”

The ghosts loitering in one of the more developed areas of the Zone gave a collective groan. Here we go, another Box Ghost “rampage”. At least _him_ venting his frustrations couldn’t do much damage to the floating buildings or small park that had sprung up in the last few weeks. This much structure appearing all together at once was rare, and they wanted to enjoy it as long as it stood.

“BEWAAAAAAAAAAAARE!” the Box Ghost shrieked as he flew at full speed behind a ghostly diner and cowered up against the wall, his face a picture of panic.

“We heard you the first time!” A glowing green skeleton heckled, to the rattling laughter of his fellows. “Get lost; we’re trying to appreciate the greenery!”

“NOT ME, YOU FOOOOOOOLS! THEM!” the diminutive ghost shouted back, pointing to where he’d come from. The skeleton turned to look, and screamed shrilly as his skull dropped into his ribcage to dodge the ectobeam fired at him.

“BONSAAAAAAAAAAAAI!” A man’s voice resounded from a pair of speakers attached to the front of an odd cylindrical flying machine. It would probably be mildly comical were it not firing lasers at every ghost available.

“Scatter!” shouted the skeleton, yanking his skull out of his chest. The crowds followed his advice with alacrity, flying off in every direction.

“Isn’t it supposed to be banzai?” One of the fleeing skeletons asked.

“ _You_ correct him if you really want to!”

The machine streaked forward and swerved, pulling a ninety degree turn into a dead stop in beside the terrified Box Ghost. Before the pest could flee, one of the protrusions on top of the metallic marauder burst, a net springing forth to entangle him. It slowly pulled him closer to the cockpit and he could make out two figures – one large, the other smaller.

“Great shot, honey!” the larger one complimented.

“Thank you, dear. I do hope this one has what we need.” The smaller one remarked.

“Oh, right, almost forgot. Ghost! The device you are currently ensnared in is a patented Fenton original EctoElectro Net! If you do not answer our questions, this button right here will _shock you_ until you feel inclined to answer! Now tell us what we want to know!”

“Um-“The Box Ghost attempted interrupt.

“Darn you!” The larger one shouted. “I don’t _want_ to hurt you! Well, anymore. But I will if you don’t talk!”

“I’d cooperate, if I were you. There’s only so much I can do to stop him,” the smaller figure said, attempting to sound reasonable.

“It might help if-“the spook tried to suggest.

“This one is a tough nut to crack, Mads. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Well, if the stick isn’t working, perhaps the carrot?”

“Of course! ... What’s a ghost’s carrot?”

“YOU HAVEN’T ASKED ME ANY QUESTIONS!” the Box Ghost squealed.

“... Oh. Right.”

“We do keep forgetting to do that, don’t we, Jack? Maybe we should have brewed stronger coffee...”

The net abruptly swung closer, pressing the Box Ghost up against the cockpit window of the vehicle.

“Where is the realm of Ember McLain?” Jack growled.

* * *

_3:03 pm_

“Wait, wait, wait – Ghost is a _type_ in this game?” Ember asked.

“Oh yeah! Pretty good one, too. The only thing they’re consistently weak to is other ghosts,” Danny affirmed, enthusiastically. “Straight up immune to a lot of other types of damage, too.”

“Huh. And does it bother you that this kid’s game got ghosts better than your folks did at first?” She smirked, whilst Danny went wide eyed with realisation before laughing.

“Oh my god, it did, that’s... they can never know!” He chuckled. “I made an all ghost team, and named it after you guys, actually.”

“Oooo, lemmie see!” Ember eagerly pulled the console from his hands and scrolled through. “Alright, so, floating sword and shield is Fright Knight, makes sense. That is one freaky looking ghost dragon you’ve named after Dora... Hey!”

“What?”

“Why the heck am I a possessed chandelier of all things?!”

“Oh, right. There isn’t a musical ghost type, so I had to go with fire for you.”

“Ugh. Fine. Wait, why’re you a ghost tree? You don’t have anything to do with plants!”

“Oh, because that one evolves from a Phantump,” Danny said, far too pleased with himself.

“... That does it,” Ember declared, stone-faced. “The truce is off. I’m killing you just to stop the puns.” She was about to hurl the device at him before she noticed something. “... Is that a living garbage bag?”

“Yeah, some designs aren’t exactly the best,” Danny shrugged.

“And why is it named Paulinaaaahahahaha I just got it!”

* * *

_3:15 pm_

“... So there I was, outside the Acropolis, with my DAAAAAAAARING SCHEEEEEEEEEEME...”

Maddie’s head hit the dash of the Specter Speeder. Of course the one ghost they’d catch who knew where Ember... “Lived” still felt wrong to her. Resided? Resided. Who knew where she resided would be an insufferable boring braggart. At first she’d been angry at his stories of fighting her son to a standstill, to the point Jack had to restrain her from hitting the button marked _Fry the Ghost into Nothing._ They both soon realised that this was the Box Ghost, and from what Danny had told them, all talk.

All endless, incessant talk. At least he was good for directions.

“With the MAAAAAAASTER BOX in my hands- make a left here- I set forth...”

Jack dutifully piloted the Speeder around a floating rock to the left, and then pinched the bridge of his nose, a long yawn escaping his mouth.

“Would you please pass me the thermos, dear?”

“Regular or Fenton?” Maddie replied, just as bored as her husband.

“Whichever will keep me awake during this,” Jack grumbled. Maddie reached down to her side and grabbed the first thing vaguely thermos shaped she could feel for and handed it over. There was brief fumbling, then a sucking noise and burst of white-blue light. Jack, his hair slightly singed and his eyes wide and bloodshot, handed the thermos back. “Thanks, that did the trick.”

“... soon ALL WOULD FEAAAAAAAAAR the BOOOOOX GHOOOOOOOOOST!”

* * *

_3:37 pm_

“OK, I’ll admit having three guys light their hair on fire in front of you to ask you out is pretty good as far as crazy fan stories go, but I can still top it,” Danny smirked.

“Oh yeah?” Ember shot back. “Come on then, baby pop, what tops three multicoloured fire people begging to be my boy toys?”

“Remember outside school, when that one guy said ‘he is risen’ or whatever?” Danny asked, radiating smugness.

“Oh yeah, what was that? Sounded weirdly religious.”

“Yeah, I have a cult,” Danny said nonchalantly. Ember’s face went utterly blank and she was silent for a few seconds.

“... You have a **_what_** , _”_ she eventually managed.

“A cult. Full on, too, public worship, robes, the whole deal. They keep preaching in the streets. Getting to be a town nuisance no matter how many times I tell them to knock it off.”

Ember’s face went through multiple emotions rapidly, before eventually settling on confusion. “ _How?!”_

 **“** OK, so, you know my whole deal right? How I got these powers and all that?”

“Yeah, you got caught in a lab accident, drenched in ectoplasm, developed a ghost half and went on to become a pain in my and others necks.”

“Right. Another way of saying that is I died, came back to life and started saving people.”

“... Well if you put it that way, _of_ _course_ you have a cult. _”_ Ember made a gesture of surrender. “Fine, fine, you win the crazy fan contest. I don’t think anything could top that!”

* * *

_3:52 pm_

“... and it’s the purple door on the right,” The Box Ghost finished, his earlier fear all but evaporated. It had been some time since he’d had a captive audience for his riveting, in his opinion, tales. The fact he had been the captive was entirely incidental. A few helpful directions in return seemed fair.

“But they’re all-“Jack started, before Maddie slapped her hand over his mouth.

“Yes, thank you very much, you can go now,” she said sweetly, hitting the release on the net. The Box Ghost lurched forward out of the contraption, stretching his aching limbs. He paused, his eyes briefly meeting the occupants of the Speeder, before thrusting his arms upwards and waggling his hands.

“BEWAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE!” he cried, before bolting back where they’d come from.

“What an odd ghost,” Maddie commented, releasing Jack’s mouth. “I wonder what prompts such bizarre behaviour in weaker entities,” she mused, having engaged her analytical instincts to stave off boredom and sleep midway through the trip. “I’ll check if Jazz has made any more progress in ghostly psychology when we get back.”

“How are we going to find Danny now?” Jack despaired, looking out at the sea of purple doors. There looked to be well over a hundred of the portals to pocket dimensions here. Even assuming every ghost answered a knock, it would be hours of searching.

“Oh, don’t worry Jack; we can scan for Danny’s ecto-signature on the shorter range instruments. It should be strong enough to show up at this distance even in a pocket dimension.”

“But-“

“Would you rather half an hour of scans or more time with the Box Ghost?”

“... Right as always, honey!”

He examined the readings coming from Danny’s suit. He still seemed physically fine. If anything, if the data was accurate, he was actually fairly relaxed. Must be unconscious or something similar, Jack determined.

As Maddie started tapping away at the scanning equipment, Jack closed his eyes. Just resting them, obviously.

* * *

_3:59 pm_

“A _shrine?!”_ Ember exclaimed, incredulous. By this point in their day, they’d abandoned their respective corners and were sitting next to each other in the couch pit, opposite the muted TV, letting some music channel or other run in the background.

“She has an honest to goodness shrine to me in her locker! If I wasn’t basically immune to anything she could try, I would be pretty scared of Paulina!” Danny griped. “If I even felt like dating, she’d be messing with that, too.”

“Oh please, she just seemed like a spoiled airhead with a fiction fixation when I ran into her,” Ember sneered disdainfully. “How is she gonna stop you dating?”

“A spoiled airhead who also runs the A-Listers,” Danny pointed out, and saw Ember’s face harden. “Yeah, she’s one of those. Basically, a lot of the girls at school have been threatened with social destruction if they make a move on ‘her’ ghost boy.”

“But that’s not gonna stop everyone, though, right? What about that one girl, what’s her name, dresses up in red and has more firepower than Skulker when he _really_ needs to compensate? You guys dated for a while, why not pick that up again? Assuming Technus wasn’t making stuff up for attention again.”

“Oh, Valerie? She shot me.”

“Yeah, ha, ha, I meant _after_ everything got out in the open.”

“Yeah, she shot me.”

Ember stared at him curiously. “You are way too blasé about attempts to kill you, you know that?”

It was Danny’s turn to shrug. “Probably. No, over a year ago, after the Disasteroid was done and all you guys packed up home, we had a...talk.”

“And by talk, I assume you mean the destruction was incredible.”

“Pretty much. She was _mad_ when she found out, but she got why I hid my secret. The fight was just catharsis for her, getting out all her frustrations with me so she could move on. I explained and apologised for everything that happened, I got my parents to hire her dad to design commercial ghost security systems and help run the business side of things, we’ve patrolled and fought together quite a few times... We’re genuine friends again at least, but it would take a lot of work to get back to the almost-girlfriend stage, and like I say, not interested in dating right now.”

“Bummer,” Ember said, poker-faced, “months of planning to get you to go out with me foiled.” 

Danny stared at her in surprise, before they both broke out into fits of giggles.

“Oh man, for a second there I thought you meant it!” Danny snickered.

“Heh, yeah,” Ember grinned. “Honestly, I didn’t even know you were single until today when the pink brat decided to mouth off. There a story behind that one? Tell you mine if you tell me yours~” she asked in a sing-song voice.

For the first time since he’d gotten to the couch pit, Danny scowled, good humour temporarily vanishing. “Yeah, there is. You can thank your buddy Spectra for some of it, too.”

“For real?” Ember said, taken aback. “Penny hasn’t said anything, and _believe me,_ she would.” Danny smiled wolfishly.

“Oh, this doesn’t end well for her. But did she mention any kind of plan for around February?”

Ember adopted a thoughtful expression as she cast her mind back. “... Huh. You know, now I think about it, in-between the gossip and the bellyaching about boyfriends, she _was_ kinda gloating about 8 months back. Y’know, in that smug “I know something you don’t know” way she gets.”

Danny made a face. “I know the one. I’ve never been happier to see that expression on a face I’m _allowed_ to punch.” Ember barked out a laugh at that and Danny grinned. “Short version, she managed to throw together a way to manipulate the minds of couples. Making the negatives of a relationship worse, the positives minimised, yadda yadda. Decided to try it out on Valentine’s Day for maximum misery.”

“I mean, yeah. The most possible drama, that’s Penny,” Ember drawled, rolling her eyes. “I take it you and spooks got hit with it?”

“Yep. Spectra threw the switch, or focused really hard, or however she turned this thing on and it was instant pandemonium. In my case, I accused Sam of only being with me because of my powers and what I can do and not for me. And she _agreed_. Said there was nothing else to me except them.”

“... I, I’ve got nothing witty to say to that, that actually sounds pretty horrible, baby pop,” Ember said with sympathy. “How badly did you hit Penny for that one?”

“Oh, I didn’t,” he replied. “I was too caught up in Couples Counselling, or whatever Spectra called it. No, this one got stopped by my parents. Turns out the only persistent negatives they had on their mind is dad occasionally takes one more roast potato than he should and mom sometimes doesn’t let him watch her work. They were immune otherwise.”

“Dipstick, if I could still hurl, I would right now. That is _sickeningly_ sweet,” Ember grimaced, sticking her tongue out.

“You’re telling me. Not even forgetting anniversaries got brought up. But anyway, more specifically, Spectra got tricked by my _dad_.”

Ember’s eyes went wide with wicked amusement. “Wait, wait - You’re telling me, that your pops, a man who routinely forgets to charge the _guns_ he uses to fight ghosts, was able to trick Penny?!” At Danny’s nod, she howled with laughter. “Oh yeah, I am NOT letting her live that one down!”

“Now you see why she wouldn’t say anything,” Danny chuckled. “Basically dad pretended he wanted to seduce Spectra as revenge against mom. She went along with it for a bit so she could break his heart for more misery, but she didn’t spot the blaster behind his back.”

“That is _priceless!_ The next time I see her, I am having a _field day!_ Ha!” Ember’s laughter subsided, her grin fading. “But I’m guessing the story doesn’t end there?” Danny frowned.

“No. When it was all done, everyone kinda just went back to normal, as much as they could. Me and Sam said it was just the effect of Spectra’s mind games, and we tried to carry on. But a few days later she came to me and told me we had to break up. She’d been thinking about what she’d said, that she was only with me because of Phantom.”

“And it was true?! Not just Penny’s thingy?!” Ember snapped, enraged. Danny found it oddly comforting she was angry over this.

_Maybe this truce has a shot at lasting._

“No, she said she _didn’t know_. I’ve never seen her so ashamed of herself, honestly,” Danny said pensively. His eyes had turned downcast, sad. “She wasn’t sure if that’s what she felt, so she didn’t want to keep going without knowing if she was with me for genuine reasons or shallow ones.”

“Hmph. Well, at least she was honest,” Ember huffed, crossing her arms. “Still, not flippin’ cool.”

“Yeah, well... we’re learning how to be friends again. Still a little awkward, but we’re getting there. But, that’s why I don’t want to date. If not even my closest friend of, like, a decade can separate me from my ghost half, I want to be sure whoever I meet can before we go out.”

Ember shrugged. “Eh, not like there’s really a distinction anyway. White hair or black, it’s still _you_. You dipstick,” she smirked.

Danny gave her a genuine smile. “Heh. Thanks, Ember. Come on, your turn!”

“Oh, Skulker broke one of my guitars in half when he was cleaning his gun, and that was the last straw.”

“... That was _so_ not a fair trade!” Danny whined, unable to stop himself from laughing a little.

“Nope! Deal with it!” Ember cackled, and it didn’t take long for Danny to join her.

Their laughter dissolved naturally, and a strangely companionable silence fell upon them. They focused their attention on the TV and the band playing silently, all ridiculous hair and exaggerated movements. Some glam metal throwback, Danny thinks. Looks like they’re having fun, at least.

What astonishes him, though, is that so are he and Ember.

He stole a glance at the ghost rocker. Had he ever seen her this relaxed before? Even at the Christmas truces, she was still guarded, a spiky ball ready to lash out at slights, perceived or otherwise. Here, now, she was almost carefree. A slight smile played about her face as she watched the band rock out, the arms she left sprawled across the back of the couch tapping out the beat in time with the drummer.

To say nothing of himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he just enjoyed someone’s company like this. No ulterior motives, no plan or thing to do, just shooting the breeze. The constant back and forth bickering was honestly the most fun he’d had in ages. It should probably worry him a little that his strongest instinct was for banter above all things, but they’d both laughed plenty today, so he refused to count that as a negative.

_To think this all started with being kidnapped for my own good. And that’s one of the least weird things I’ve said today._

_Although speaking of weird things to say..._

He’d probably put this off long enough at this point. At first it was just to gather his thoughts, but he’d long since gotten lost in the fun.

“Hey, Ember,” Danny said softly, getting the attention of the flame haired girl next to him. “I think I’m good to talk now.”

Instantly, Ember snapped her fingers and the TV turned off. She shifted herself to the side to give Danny her undivided attention. “Alright, baby pop. When you’re ready,” she said quietly.

“Can I ask you something first though?” At Ember’s nod, he queried “Why... why do all this? I know we said we’d help each other out, but this is kind of... above and beyond. I appreciate it, don’t get me wrong, but this is way more than I expected.”

Ember was silent for a few moments, her face inscrutable as she studied Danny. Eventually she shrugged. “Maybe I don’t like feeling like I owe you. Maybe I get angry when I see people not taking care of themselves for stupid reasons. Maybe I wanted to see if this deal of ours was on the level and not just you tryin’ to get rid of me that night.” Her eyes sparkled and the corner of her mouth turned up.

“Maybe I thought it’d be funny. Maybe I wanted a sleepover and didn’t know how to ask. Maybe I wanted blackmail material in the form of pics of you napping...”

“OK, OK, very-“

“... Maybe I’m madly in love with-“

“I get it!” he shouted, as Ember snickered.

“Seriously, though, baby pop, does it matter?”

“No. I guess it doesn’t. Just... thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiled. “Now spill.”

Danny took a deep breath and tried to stop his hands wavering. “OK. Back before I outed myself, my life was a mess. School life in particular – my grades were wrecks at best. There was a big test coming up, and I mean “determine your future” type big. And I had no chance to study for it, too many ghost attacks all at once. I was pretty angry – like, I risk myself near-daily to help people and I’m going to ruin my own life because of it. So when I saw a chance to get the test answers, to maybe make my parents proud for once... I took it.”

“Got caught, I take it?” Ember interrupted. Danny grimaced.

“Yeah. My teacher called my parents to meet him at the Nasty Burger to talk about the test. My sister and my friends were there as well. I wasn’t though. Another ghost came through just outside and I had to deal with it. But during the fight, a blast went stray, right into the diner.”

“Oh man. Did they get hurt?”

“No. They _died_.”

“... Um,” Ember hesitated, unsure of how to properly question that. Danny ignored her and ploughed on, almost oblivious of her confusion.

“The blast hit something volatile, sent the whole place up. It was... it was horrible. I was alone, I’d just watched everyone I knew and loved go up in flames and the only person I could turn to for help was that absolute _fruit loop,_ Vlad. How messed up is that? I was, I was just _done._ I’d had enough of ghosts. I asked Vlad to take it all away, and he... he did. Pulled Phantom right out of me. Didn’t expect my ghost half to have objections, though.”

The only thing stopping Ember from calling this whole story out was the look on Danny’s face, like he was... somewhere else entirely.

“I ripped out Vlad’s ghost half and... overshadowed it. Or something, I’m not super clear. Fused with it? All I know is what followed was 10 years of death and destruction. The whole world destroyed, the Ghost Zone ravaged. Most of you guys either crippled or... gone. Nobody could stand up to me.

“And then Clockwork got involved.”

“... Is it bad that this is when this is starting to make sense to me,” Ember said quietly. Danny grinned half-heartedly.

“Time travel can fix a lot in storytelling. Don’t tell Tuck that, though, he _will_ argue. Anyway, Clockwork pulled me from before it all happened, chased me into this future. I think with the intent of scaring me off the same path. I fought Dan, my evil self, came up with the ghostly wail about a decade before he did, too. Saved my friends and family. All a happy ending, right?” Danny said bitterly.

“Except how the _heck_ am I supposed to forget any of that? I make one selfish choice. _One._ And it cost me _everything._ More than me _,_ it cost _everyone, everything._ And, and worse? Dan is _still here._ Clockwork has him trapped in his tower. So for all I know, this isn’t over, that’s still the future, and I can’t, I _can’t_ let that happen, Ember, ever-“

“Dipstick...” Ember muttered, reaching out a hand for his shoulder. Danny didn’t seem to notice.

“...I won’t be the reason everyone dies, I _won’t-“_

“Dipstick!” Ember said, louder, hoping to break Danny from his spiral.

“ _I won’t turn into hi-“_

“DANNY!” Ember roared, shaking him by the shoulder and shocking the ghost boy into silence.

“Danny, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that’s all alright ‘cause it turned out not to have happened. Seeing any of that, even hearing about it, is bound to have been the absolute worst thing imaginable for you. But it _won’t happen._ ”

“You... you can’t _know_ that...” Danny replied, hesitantly. Ember paused, before nodding.

“True. I don’t know that. Just like you didn’t know what taking those test answers would cause. I’m sorry to tell you this, dipstick, but when you make a choice, things’ll happen you didn’t intend, good or bad. Doesn’t mean you stop choosing. Y’know what I do know, though?”

Danny shook his head, and Ember sighed, rubbing her eyes.

“Dipstick, I am not going to repeat this, ever again, so listen close: You are easily, without a doubt, the single most fundamentally good person I have ever had the bad luck to meet. You’d never hurt a soul more than you had to to help others. You would never, not even once, choose to do anything like your evil self normally,” Ember declared firmly.

“If anything were to ever push you to that, it would be the kind of absolute _stupid, ridiculous, the universe is actively messing with you_ set of circumstances you just described. It would need a lot, is what I’m saying. Not just taking care of yourself. Not missing a day of school and making your parents feel a little bad so you can sleep _._ ”

“... You really think I’m that good?” Danny almost whispered, unshed tears at the corners of his eyes.

“How many people are there on the Earth? About seven billion, right? They’re all alive right now because of _you,”_ Ember poked him the chest for emphasis, “to say nothing of all of us here in the Zone _._ Sounds kinda like the opposite of that future, right? Dan wouldn’t have cared. You did.”

Ember gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Thinking otherwise, worrying otherwise? It’s a trap, baby pop. You’re not him, and doing something for yourself when you need to won’t turn you into him either.”

Danny let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. “You’re right. I-I know you’re right. It’s just, it’s hard, you know? I spend a lot of time keeping track of myself and why I’m doing things as it is, I’ve got too much power not to, and it’s just so easy to remember all that and get scared and violently do the opposite of Dan. I don’t think I can just... stop, now.”

“Well, that’s why we’ve got each other, right?” Ember said, a half-smile on her face. “It’s the whole point of this truce. I can’t get rid of all the baggage in one go, but I can definitely help you break that habit when you need to. Which yeah, I am now taking as blanket permission to snatch you whenever you need it.”

Danny let out an actual, full-on laugh at that. “You know what, fine. I’ll just have to make sure you don’t need to in future.” He gave Ember a watery smile. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to shove all this on you.”

“Eh, it’s what we agreed to. You listened when I was bellyaching, seems fair. ’Side’s, this give you something concrete to work on – stop being a moron and sleep,” Ember smirked back. Danny gave her an odd look, which made Ember frown. “What?”

“I, uh, I kinda wanna hug you, but I think that might be taking it too far?” Danny sheepishly said.

“Yup, it would,” Ember declared, stony faced. Danny decided it was time Ember got acquainted with one of his secret powers. Widening his eyes beyond what should be humanly possible and shaping the rest of his face into a picture of sadness, he fixed Ember with his Fenton Puppy Dog Stare. After a few seconds of this, she groaned in exasperation. “Fiiiiine. But you only get one!”

Danny pumped his fist in triumph, before flinging his arms around Embers shoulders and squeezing for a brief second before letting go, Ember only briefly losing her mildly disgusted look to lean in, just a little.

“That’s enough,” she stated flatly.

“OK, OK,” Danny conceded, a somewhat more solid smile on his face. He looked at the time on his phone, as well as a few unread messages, and sighed. “I should probably get going soon, shouldn’t I?”

“I mean... probably,” Ember said slowly, with reluctance. She seemed to realise how that sounded, and plastered a smirk on her face. “Aww, you gonna miss me?”

“Honestly, yeah,” Danny admitted casually as he packed up his bag, silently relishing the look of surprise that appeared on Ember’s face. “Emotional breakdowns aside, I had a lot of fun just hanging out with you.”

“... Me too, dipstick. Shame we can’t do it more often.”

Danny thought for a moment as he slung his bag over his shoulder. “Well... why not, exactly?”

“Because when I told you to keep this quiet because of my rep? That was kinda only half the story. You’ve got some enemies, baby pop. Big ones. If one of us here gets seen getting friendly with you, our life gets a lot harder unless we’ve got back up. I’m tough, but I couldn’t take on all of your usual parade of dipsticks. Why do you think Wulf had to stay at Lake Eerie? He couldn’t stick around here once he helped you out twice.”

“... Oh. So if you get spotted with me without good cover-“

“My afterlife becomes way less worth living, yeah.”

“Darn. I’m sure we can figure something out... how were you planning on getting a hold of me if you needed me, then?”

Ember jolted forward slightly, before bursting out laughing. “What’s so funny?” Danny asked, bewildered.

“I _completely forgot_ that was the whole reason I turned up this morning! I wanted to see if we could hash out some way of talking to each other if we needed without just rocking up unannounced.”

“Oh. Jeez, that seems like days ago now, doesn’t it? ...Hm. Drop in the lab this evening, I can hook you up with a Fenton phone! It’s like mine, works in the Ghost Zone, Technus-proof, and has the usual apps and junk.”

“Wait, I thought the Fenton phones were those weird ear things the goth was wearing that one time?” Ember asked, eyebrow raised. Danny shrugged.

“Upgrades.”

“... Eh, fair. I’ll swing by later.” Ember snapped her fingers. The tiered steps leading to the couch pit split apart segment by segment to reveal a purple door at the end of a small hallway, which they both walked a short distance down. “Now go on, go enjoy your tacos.”

Danny’s brow furrowed. “Tacos?” he asked quizzically.

“Yeah, it’s something your folks said when I spoke to ‘em. It’s taco night, apparently.”

“But we don’t have-“Danny began, before he stiffened and his eyes widened. Two soft beeps emitted from his comm. He groaned as he heard the voices of his parents start coming through in whisper (or as close to a whisper as his dad can get). “Oh for the love of... Ember, I’d get down if I were you.”

“... huh? Why? What’s going on?”

“I need to teach dad other letters of the Greek alphabet is what’s going on. Can you fix that door if it gets damaged?” Danny asked lowly, dragging Ember back into the couch pit and lying down.

“Yeah, it’s my realm, it’ll just take a little-“

The door exploded in green fire, scattering spectral wood in throughout the room, which promptly melted into small pools of ectoplasm. Through the smoke and lingering debris charged Danny’s brick of a father, festooned with more Fenton gear than should be carried by a single person, followed shortly by the smaller but equally overburdened form of his mother. Both had augmented their jumpsuits with spacesuit-like helmets and manoeuvring backpacks, which Danny idly recalled was based on some NASA design.

Thankfully, this time they had the sense to not come into what they thought was a hostage situation guns blazing. Of course, nothing was going to ever stop Jack from shouting.

“GIVE ME BACK MY SON, YOU FLAME HAIRED SORRY EXCUSE FOR A-“

“ _Didn’t anyone teach you manners, ya apes?!”_ Ember screeched, rearing up out of the pit to shake her fist at the huge orange man and his dark blue wife. “You couldn’t have knocked first?! Geez, if the dipstick hadn’t heard you coming you’d have blown us both to the Far flippin’ Frozen!”

“Hi mom, hi dad,” Danny greeted, waving his arm weakly from his position on the couch.

“Danny! You’re alright!” Maddie cried out, rushing to where Danny lurched to his feet, brushing ectoplasm from his jumpsuit. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“No, I’m fine, it wasn’t that kind of kidnapping,” Danny said, before slapping his palm to his face. Upon being reminded why they were there, both Fenton’s turned to a scowling Ember and levelled the largest guns they had in their possession. Ember for her part ignored them, trying to get some of the purple ectoplasm out of her hair.

“Ugh, I’m gonna need to shower for hours now... What?!” Ember snapped at Jack and Maddie, who merely scowled.

“As for you, ghost, you’re gonna pay for taking our son,” Jack growled.

“Whoa, whoa, guys, it’s all fine, Ember didn’t do anything wrong! The truce I told you about is still on!” Danny interjected, putting himself between the rocker and the guns. He winced a little at their sudden panic, and realised perhaps jumping in front of their guns was a poor move practically and emotionally. “She was just trying to help me out. In a very Ember way, admittedly...”

“Surprise teleporting is fun and you know it!” Ember called out from behind, her hair sparking and flickering as she tried to burn the ectoplasm off. “Plus commuting is boring. I helped.”

“Ah yes, I’m sure doing a Hendrix impression for fifteen minutes and sparking up some road rage was an immense positive to the day,” Danny said drily.

“I dunno, was definitely fun for me,” Ember grinned. Danny rolled his eyes and turned back to his parents, who had lowered their guns with looks of blank confusion.

“So, you’re... fine? You’re not in any danger?” Jack asked, somewhat nonplussed. “But then why did _she,”_ he intoned, waving his gun at the ghost girl who was currently smacking her hair on the floor, “pretend to be you on the phone?”

“Oh, uh, because I... she... yeah, I got nothing, little help, Ember?”

“Because the ghost of idiots past here was so tired the teleporting knocked him out,” Ember replied nonchalantly. At Danny’s look, she shrugged. “If you’re breaking the habit, telling them is probably step one. Thank me later. Anyway, had to try to stop you worrying or just charging in. Honestly, thought I’d managed it until my _door exploded,_ ” she said pointedly. Jack at least had the wherewithal to look a little sheepish at that.

“Danny, we are not very happy with you right now, but an explanation can wait if you’re not in trouble. Just one more question, though, sweetie,” Maddie asked. “Can you drive the Specter Speeder?”

“Uh, yeah? Why would I need to-“Danny started, before both his parents fell backwards, snoring before they even hit the ground.

“... Ah. They haven’t slept either.”

“Dipstick, is being this intense and stupid genetic? I can’t help you with genetics.”

“I’ll let you know if I find out. Give me a hand with-“

“You’re on your own!” Ember declared emphatically, floating her way up the steps. “Gotta sort out my hair. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

Danny grumbled to himself, and grabbed his dad by the arms. Ghost strength or not, this wasn’t going to be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Oh, the next chapter will be about the same length", I am a dirty liar. This would have been out about 5 days back were it not for all the various insanity going on in the world right now, so I clearly have no idea how much I'm gonna be writing at one time or how long it'll take. So I'm just going to try to stick to an update every 1-2 weeks of whatever length.
> 
> Probably gonna start writing more from other perspectives in future as well. There's only so many ways I can have Danny "Clueless" Fenton attempt to read Ember "More Walls Than China" McLain.
> 
> Thing I'm weirdly proud of this chapter: Jack blasting himself in the face with the thermos.


	5. VR Troopers: Persuasion

Jack Fenton eyed his son sternly, inspecting him thoroughly.

“Fenton Hydration Replenisher?” He asked.

“Check,” Danny replied, patting the device attached to his belt.

“EctoBounce Performance Rubber Soles?”

“Check and check,” Danny said, bouncing on his heels slightly.

“Aerodynamic Fenton Jumpsuit?”

Danny plucked at his t-shirt and shorts. “Getting resized, this’ll have to do for now.” Jack frowned.

“Not ideal, not ideal... Abort mission?”

Danny raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Doesn’t seem like something likely to affect the outcome, dad.”

“No, no, I suppose not... are _you_ sure you want to do this? It was supposed to be just me,” Jack ventured, uncertainly, before Danny patted his arm reassuringly.

“It’s OK, dad. I need to face them too, and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather do it with than my old man,” he smiled. Jack returned a look of paternal affection.

“Spoken like a true Fenton man, my boy. Alright then,” he said, holding out his arm. Danny’s own arm snaked around it, gripping tight. “On the count of 3. 1... 2... 3!”

Danny focused his willpower, and he and Jack both became intangible as they ran out of the front door of Fenton Works into the blinding white light of Danny’s most persistent foe:

The paparazzi.

The chorus of shouts and barks instantly rose into a cacophony as the two Fenton’s came into view and charged through, their intangible nature allowing them to ignore any obstacles the fiends might attempt to put in front of them. The Fenton’s had learned from experience and experimentation that intangibility made ghosts invisible to recording equipment, but somehow this had yet to be discovered by the people manning the equipment.

The endless flashes and stubborn attempts to thrust cameras in their faces were only an impediment to the runner’s sight, and frankly, the assorted press that seemed to camp near permanently outside the house were too predictable in their set up for that to be a problem.

Danny and Jack veered right and finally cleared the swarm of associated news crews. Once they were a few feet clear, Danny released his father’s arm, allowing them both to return to tangibility. The instant he did so, the chase was on, as dozens of furious reporters and photographers pounded after them, questions and demands shouted at their retreating backs.

“YOU’LL NEVER CATCH ME OR MY MARGINALLY MORE FAMOUS SON, YOU VULTURES! HA HA!” Jack roared behind them.

One of the things Jack had decided in the wake of his son’s secret being revealed was that he needed to revive his old exercise routine. He’d let it slip too much, let himself get buried in research (And fudge, as Jazz had muttered), and if he was going to properly participate in ghost hunting endeavours, he needed to be at his best. As always though, it was easier said than done. The motivation was there for the strength training. No, it was cardio that eluded Jack. Running was really, _really_ boring.

Then Danny had an idea – turn the whole thing into a game. And who better to use for that purpose than the endless crowd of people outside the house? They chase anyone leaving the house anyway.

Jack took to it like a duck to water. He relished in the chance to outsmart the throng that made his family’s life harder, ducking down alleys, leaping over obstacles, taking wild swerves at odd times to wrong foot his pursuers. Failure meant having to deal with their tender ministrations, and even Jack’s ego could only take so much of that. The perfect motivator to not stop running.

It was working, too. Outwardly Jack hadn’t changed much (ham and fudge was still his staple diet after all), but eventually everyone picked up on his ability to haul around heavy ghost hunting equipment for longer and longer periods of time.

Danny joined him on the runs every so often in solidarity. If the previous night had been uneventful, he would rise earlier with his dad and they’d take on the wolves together. Aside from Khudal Khan 4 nights ago, there hadn’t been any major incidents beyond a few ghost animals, so Friday was father-son exercise day.

They both dashed down a small side street, the pursuing horde losing more ground as they squabbled amongst themselves trying to fit. The fleeing Fenton men exchanged grins as they made a beeline for the old AIS construction site (Danny making his fifteenth mental note to check what AIS stood for – there was no way it was _actually_ Abandoned Industrial Sites, right?). From there, they split to confuse the enemy, Danny climbing high and trusting to his ghost powers to keep him safe from any hazards while Jack simply barrelled through, lifting or jumping anything that prevented his straight line movement, both laughing as they confounded their chasers. They cheered internally at the sounds of frustration and surrender fading into the distance behind them.

* * *

Half an hour later, a pair of sweaty, tired but happy Fenton’s re-entered the house.

“... and I had no idea you could lift that whole thing so easily! They were freaking out when that pallet came at them!” Danny laughed.

“That’s what they get for underestimating Jack Fenton!” he cried, his grin threatening to split his face in two. “Ah, what a way to start the day! Have you got anything good planned, Danno?”

Danny shrugged. “School as usual, deal with any ghosts that pop up, Nasty Burger with Sam and Tucker afterwards and try to survive their reaction to the idea I’m about to propose for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow... oh, game day! What idea could possibly be so bad?”

“We’re a man down with Val out of town on a haunting, and I don’t think they’ll like who I’ve got in mind to sub her on the team. Anyway, how about you?”

“Me and your mom are meeting Damon about some more commercial-grade ghost shields – apparently Polter Heights have been clamouring for them. Besides that, your mom’s still working on her project and I’m still running scans and planning the next expedition to the Ghost Zone.” He frowned, briefly. “Hm. Maybe I need a new project of my own...” He pondered, before meandering upstairs.

Danny shook his head at his dads’ sudden discovery of restlessness, and made his way to the kitchen. He had about an hour to kill before he had to get ready to get to school, and at least 15 minutes until the shower was free. What to do...

His phone pinged while he thought, and he grinned at the message, unlocking the phone to commence the now-daily back and forth.

**Ember: “Danny was active 40 minutes ago”**

**Ember:** “Oh, I can’t get myself up on time to do stuff.” _Liar._

 **Danny:** Yep. That’s me. The lying liar who lies.

 **Danny:** How’re you doing? Managed to avoid smashing the phone because you misunderstood hard reset?

 **Ember:** I did it ONCE. Cut me some slack.

 **Ember:** Anyway, I don’t think English can properly convey how flippin’ relieved I am that I don’t have to go through Technus to get YouTube anymore.

 **Ember:** Every single ad was replaced with an unskippable 10 minute speech about his superiority. As if comments sections don’t already make me wish I could punch everyone in the face at once.

 **Ember** : Morning, by the way.

 **Danny:** Manners. I’m shocked. Morning to you, too. I guess? I dunno how the zone works about that.

 **Danny:** Also that sounds like the worst. It’s easier to deal with when you can just blast him in the face.

 **Ember:** I mean, so can I when I see him, dipstick. Doesn’t stop me from having a deep seated need to watch the latest Phantom Phail compilation when he isn’t around, though.

 **Danny:** BRB, copyright claiming some videos.

 **Ember:** DO NOT.

 **Danny:** You’re lucky I’m merciful.

 **Danny:** Given any more thought to coming over tomorrow?

 **Ember:** Maybe. I dunno. If you can talk spooks and the geek into not shooting me on sight.

 **Ember:** And we do all that stuff you talked about with the ghost sense.

 **Ember:** What exactly would we be doing, anyway? You were kind of vague beyond “game”.

 **Danny:** Plugging our brains into experimental computers to pretend to be space men and shoot other people also plugged in pretending to be space men.

 **Ember:**... I can’t tell if that’s a terrible description or a great one.

 **Danny:** Column A, Column B. The VRCade is a trip.

 **Ember:** Is this how you got brain damaged? I feel like this is how you got brain damaged.

 **Danny:** No, that was from repeated guitars to the head. Gee, I wish I could remember who did that.

 **Ember:** Har har.

 **Ember:** That isn’t actually a problem, is it?

 **Danny:** Nah. I don’t even have scars from most of my fights. Otherwise I think I’d be half ghost, half scar tissue by now.

 **Ember:** Shame. It’d probably turn most of your fan girls off you.

 **Danny:** Hey Google, how do I turn off ghostly healing?

 **Ember:** Ha!

Danny grinned to himself as he made his way to the shower (earning a vomit emoji from Ember, the first she’d ever used). This was how he’d spent most of the mornings since his impromptu kidnapping 3 days ago. The next day, when his parents had had their sleep, they were less annoyed with him than they had been and more concerned. Ember had been right – telling them why she’d taken such a drastic measure was probably for the best.

They’d been upset that he hadn’t told them he was exhausted and that they hadn’t caught it, but they _hadn’t_ seemed guilty, and appreciated the honesty and attempts to spare their feelings. It was refreshing, to be reminded he could count on them.

They’d also instantly taken notes of her actions to add to their ever-changing theories of ghost biology and psychology, but he was used to that. At least they were basing them on experience instead of ghost stories now.

Almost immediately after, Ember had texted him a string of complaints about the phone. He really didn’t peg her as someone who didn’t know how to work technology, but best as he could tell she’d died around the seventies, so it shouldn’t be that surprising. More fodder to tease her for anyway. She’d picked up enough, however, that a lot of his spare moments had been spent trading messages with her.

By the time he was ready to go, they’d already exchanged enough insults and banter to fill the screen ten times over.

 **Danny:** Anyway, enough assaults on my dignity.

 **Ember:** What dignity.

 **Danny:** I gotta get to school. Wish me luck with Sam and Tucker!

 **Ember:** Good luck trying to talk them into this stupid, stupid idea.

Danny pouted. It was _not_ a stupid idea.

* * *

“This is the _stupidest_ idea you’ve ever had! And I have a _list!_ ”

Danny’s head made a clunk as it hit the table of the Nasty Burger. Of course this wouldn’t be easy.

“Well, that’s Sam’s opinion. Tucker, how about you?”

“Honestly, man, I’ve got about ten thousand questions, and most of them are ‘why’.”

Danny raised his head to look at his friends. They really hadn’t changed much in the last two years since his brief attempt to play scientist had ended either amazingly or very badly, depending on who you asked. Sam was wearing her hair longer since the last year or so, now down past her shoulders. It suited her, Danny thought. But besides that, she hadn’t felt the need to change her style and overall manner.

Tucker hadn’t even made that much of a concession to the passing of time – if he wasn’t a couple of inches taller and needed to shave every now and then, he wouldn’t seem any different at sixteen than at fourteen. Still tinkering away with his handheld device of the week, only stopping to take a bite of his burger. He even went without his mayoral accoutrements most of the time, only dragging them out for official occasions.

“Why? We’ve got a take-all-comers match and we’re down our best player. If we _don’t_ find someone to replace Val, we’ll have to pick up someone around the VRCade on the spot. Do you remember how that went last time? That was the creepiest fan I’ve ever met, and I’m including the cultists.”

Sam snorted, amused. “Yeah, he was pretty bad. I didn’t think you could even take off your character’s shirt in virtual reality.” She shook her head. “But that still doesn’t mean we should fill the spot with _Ember McLain_ , of all people!”

“What, you’ve seen her fight; you know she’ll be good at it!”

“No, Danny,” Tucker corrected, lifting a finger. “We haven’t seen her fight. We have _fought her_. Pretty key distinction.”

“Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.”

“More like potato, grapefruit!” Sam shot back. “Come on, Danny, she’s tried to take over the world like 3 times already. Just because she hasn’t for a while doesn’t mean we can just ignore that.”

“Does helping me out not count towards any of that?” Danny asked, exasperated.

“Yeah, that reminds me, are we ever going to talk about how it took getting kidnapped for you to take care of yourself?” Sam commented sharply, giving Danny her best ‘I’m mad because I care’ look. Danny just rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. “Besides, how do you know this isn’t just some trick to lure you in?”

“Because she’s put all that stuff behind her!”

Tucker raised his eyebrow. “I know your dad likes to talk about the Fenton charm, but don’t tell me _you_ believe it now. You’re gonna tell me you’ve talked her out of general bad guyness over the course of a five day old truce?”

“No, I... it... feels a lot longer than that?” Danny hesitantly replied, sounding lame even to his own ears, no matter how true that actually was – it _did_ feel like he and Ember had been doing this longer. The sceptical look on both their faces told it all.

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Plan A, hope they’d just be cool with it (Even he’d admit not his best), was a bust, time for plan B – partial truth.

“OK, look, I get it. I’m asking a lot at pretty short notice. But Ember asked me for help. She says she doesn’t _want_ to do anything like that anymore, and I believe her.”

“OK. Why?” Sam questioned.

“I... kinda can’t tell you,” Danny said, a little sheepish. “I’m not breaking that confidence. I just need you guys to trust me on that.”

“We _do_ trust you, dude,” Tucker reassured.

“Yeah, if we didn’t, we’d have already taken the Specter Speeder and many, many guns to shoot the truth out of her,” Sam deadpanned. At Tuckers look, she relented. “OK, fine, _I. I_ would have done that. What we don’t get is why you need her here, playing on our team in _Nebula Patrol_.”

“Because...” Danny waved his hands around, almost as though he was trying to pluck the right words from the air. “Because I don’t think I’m enough by myself. I can be there as often as I can, I can help out with the things she needs _my_ help with, but I’m still only one person, and she still lives in the Ghost Zone with all the other jerks. I think... I think having some trustworthy, dependable people in her life would help as well. And who else would I think of but you two?”

“Awwwww...” Both Sam and Tucker responded, touched. Sam shook herself out of it quickly. “Darn it, Danny, did you have to phrase it like that? Now I feel like I’ve got a moral obligation to befriend her.”

“I dunno, I don’t think I’d object to turning the _Foley_ charm on Ms. McLain,” Tucker said, waggling his eyebrows before ducking the fry Danny threw at his head.

“Unless you’d like an instrument in your instrument, I would not recommend trying that,” Danny quipped. “I’m not saying you have to do it, I’m not even saying try your hardest. Just... act like normal and see what happens. Me and her get on weirdly well, and we’ve taken up close and personal shots at each other. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just think of something else, but I’d rather try the best option first.”

“Do you trust her?” Sam asked, quietly. Danny flinched, taken aback.

“... Not completely, no. So I’m not suggesting don’t turn up without weapons or a thermos. But she could have just called me an idiot and flown off when I was exhausted and being too stubborn to do anything about it. Instead she set up an alibi and got me somewhere I could sleep without a problem. She’s _trying_. Only fair I do the same.”

Sam and Tucker looked at each other, uncertainly, communicating silently in that way that only people who’ve been through life-or-death situations together can. After a few tense moments, Tucker shrugged, turning back to Danny.

“What the heck. This won’t be the weirdest thing you’ve asked me to do. I just expect full gloating rights if this goes badly.”

“Deal,” Danny replied, grinning. “Sam, how about you?”

“I don’t know... I mean, I at least think you’re doing this for the right reasons, but I’m not so sure that-Danny? Where’d you go?”

Where Danny had been sitting was nothing but empty air. Sam glared at the spot in puzzlement until she heard the door closing. “Ah. Taking bets on who’s just walked in...”

“Yoo hoo! Ghost boy!”

“I think the odds just got so bad, even if I won that bet I’d have to pay _you_ ,” muttered Tucker as the unwelcome and pink form of Paulina sauntered over, an exaggerated expression of bafflement adorning her face.

“Oh, well, I could have _sworn_ I saw Danny sitting here just a moment ago,” she questioned, with patently false confusion. It was all Sam could do to not roll her eyes at the display. Acting was not particularly high on the list of this girl’s talents. And it was a short list as it was.

“He had to leave!” Tucker blurted out. “Uh, the... Box Ghost turned up?” Sam didn’t bother trying to hide her eye roll this time. At this point, _everyone_ knew the Box Ghost was a pest at worse. How was everyone on Team Phantom so bad at instinctive lying, they’d had a year of practice at it!

“Oh, I _see_. Well, I’m not going to interrupt his heroics,” Paulina mused, to the obvious relief of Tucker. “So this seat is free, then?” She said coyly, rapidly seating herself where Danny had been previously. Well, almost. For some reason there was a noise that sounded like a surprised grunt and Paulina was a several inches off the actual seat.

“Hmmm. These seats are a lot more comfortable than they used to be...” she remarked, wriggling her backside slightly before she abruptly dropped into the seat proper with a yelp.

“Look, what do you want?” Sam demanded, boredom in her every pore over Paulina’s attempts to seduce Danny. “And where’s the rest of your band of bothers? Ditch you again?”

“They did _not_ ditch me! I’m the queen of the A-List!” Paulina declared, haughtily. “They just know that romance is a topic for two, unlike _some_ I could mention,” she declared, staring pointedly at the two... losers was no longer accurate. Quite where the whole bunch fit on the social hierarchy was a _problem_.

“Uh huh. More like Dash hates the sight of Danny, Kwan wouldn’t dare say no to Dash, and Star knows you’re wasting your time,” Tucker recited, ticking off each name on his fingers.

“ANYWAY,” Paulina shouted, ignoring his probably accurate assessment. “Even if my Danny isn’t here,” she winked obnoxiously at the empty seat beside her, “I’m here to do you nerds a favour.”

“Oh, this ought to be good,” Sam muttered darkly.

“I know that traitor Valerie skipping town has left you down a player for your cute little VR thing, so I’m volunteering!” She cheered, raising her hands above her head. “No need to thank me, I’ll do anything for my Danny.”

“First of all, he’s not ‘your’ Danny,” Sam growled.

“And second of all, no,” Tucker stated flatly, crossing his arms.

“Oh, that’s a shame,” Paulina replied slyly. “A little bird tells me that everyone else is too... what’s the word... afraid to take the spot. Something about social suicide, for _some reason._ Of course, something like that wouldn’t stop me~.”

“How brave,” Sam mocked. “True dedication right there to someone you didn’t look twice at until you knew he could spontaneously change his hair colour.”

“Yeah, what particular point of the comic romance is this one, Paulina?” Tucker smirked. “’Cause if it’s the ‘jerk tries to make amends in order to get a date’ part, you’re not selling it at all.”

“ _For your information,_ Foley, this is the stage where the beautiful love interest braves social stigma to fight alongside her beloved,” she retorted, flipping her hair.

“Uh-huh. Well, that’ll be tough then, we’ve already-“Tucker started, before being cut off by a glare from Sam.

Cut off too late, however. “Already what?” Paulina asked, narrowing her eyes. Sam looked from Tucker to Paulina and back, her face a picture of conflict. Inevitably though, when faced with two choices she didn’t like, she went with the one she might possibly be able to stand.

“We’ve already filled the spot with Ember McLain, Paulina. So I guess you’re out of luck.”

As much as the choice bothered her to make, watching Paulina’s face go from simpering triumph, to shock, to angry understanding, and finally carefully composed calm was deeply satisfying to Sam. There was never a greater feeling than seeing the queen bee of Casper High thwarted in some way.

“Oh,” Paulina intoned, dangerously. “Oh, I _see._ We’re at this arc already then. Fine then,” she rose from the seat. “In that case, I have some work to do.” With that, she made for the door, head low and muttering to herself.

The instant Paulina had made her exit, Danny reappeared in the next seat over with an otherworldly shimmering sound. “Jeez. I thought she’d never leave. If I had to stay intangible and invisible outside ghost mode much longer I was gonna get a headache.”

“When have we ever known her to not overstay her welcome,” Sam snarked.

“Fair. So, uh, was that answer genuine, Sam? I won’t hold you to it if it was just to get rid of her,” Danny said, raising his arm in placation. Sam frowned, but waved him off.

“It’s fine. From the sounds of it, Ember’s our only shot outside Paulina anyway, and I’d rather rub shoulders with a punk ghost than that shallow _witch._ ”

“I feel like it says something about you that you’d rather spend time with someone who’s actually tried to conquer the world than Paulina,” Tucker deadpanned.

“Yeah, that I have _standards_ ,” she retorted, to the laughter of the other two.

“Alright then, I’m gonna let Ember know she’s in,” Danny said, wiping his eyes and grabbing his phone. He tapped a few keys and, message sent, turned back to his friends to start discussing strategy, school work and whatever else came to mind.

It was harder for all 3 of them to get together these days, and Danny was determined to make the most of it.

* * *

It was getting dark by the time he, Tucker and Sam all departed the Nasty Burger and went their separate ways, with plans to meet tomorrow in the alley behind the library – the nearest place to the arcade Ember could teleport to without raising a hue and cry.

Danny was feeling pretty proud of himself. He’d not only talked his friends into allowing Ember a shot in their group, he’d done it without either lying or breaking the confidence that Ember put on him by asking for this in the first place. It wasn’t perhaps what most people would be proud of, but he’d spent an entire year lying and feeling intensely guilty about it at times, so he was glad every time he proved to himself it wasn’t a habit.

In truth, nothing he’d told his Sam and Tucker was wrong – he _wasn’t_ sure he was enough by himself, and he _did_ think being friends with those two would be beneficial. From everything Ember had said, she’d had no one worth knowing until Kitty; adding more to that pile could only help her state of mind. And he _did_ want to try in a more concrete way than just being there to listen and offer what advice he could, so a hopefully fun experience was a good start.

He had, however, decided it would be a betrayal of trust to reveal what actually sparked the whole thing off.

Danny scrolled up the messages between him and Ember until he came to a fairly early exchange, the day after he’d gotten back from her realm.

 **Ember:** Hey, dipstick. I’ve got a problem, sort of.

 **Danny:** Oh no, have you discovered I put the entire discography of Limp Bizkit on the phone.

 **Ember:** I’m being serious!

 **Danny:** Oh. Sorry. What’s up then?

 **Ember:** It’s

 **Ember:** Gah, I feel so pathetic saying it out loud.

 **Danny:** Hey. By this point we’ve probably already heard each other’s worst.

 **Danny:** No judgement here.

 **Ember:** Thanks.

 **Ember:** Just, I had way more fun hanging out with you than I thought I would and it just reminded me.

 **Ember:** It’s kinda lonely here?

 **Danny:** Oh. Well, say no more – Wanna hang out with me, Tucker and Sam on Saturday?

 **Danny:** We’re getting together to play a team video game and we’re a person down.

 **Ember:** Just like that?

 **Danny:** I mean, I’ll have to clear it with them, but if they say no, we can do something else.

 **Ember:** No, I mean

 **Ember:** No hesitation? Not even a little light mockery? You’d just hang out with me like that?

 **Danny:** Sure! You’re not the only one who had fun, and I’m not gonna make fun of your for being lonely. I’ve got way more fruitful things to mock you over. Now, what do we do if another ghost turns up?

 **Danny:** Oh, how about you just ‘port away if we get an alert or my ghost sense goes off?

 **Ember:** That should work. How’re you gonna talk those two into it, though?

 **Danny:** Eh, I’ll think of something.

 **Ember:** You are aware of how much of a stupid idea that sounds like, right?

 **Ember:** “Yes, I can just convince the two of them to spend time with a would-be world dominator”

 **Danny:** Hey, if anyone could...

 **Ember:** Deflate your head, please.

 **Ember:** But, uh, thanks? I wasn’t expecting you to do anything this big right off the bat.

 **Danny:** Blame yourself for that. You unlocked my competitive side when you kidnapped me.

 **Danny:** “Oh, she thinks she can go way beyond the letter of our agreement to make sure I’m alright? Well TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME!”

 **Ember:** You absolute _dork._

Danny smiled reading over the messages. He hoped tomorrow went well, and he was determined that if it didn’t, it wouldn’t be because of him.

* * *

“Tuck! Over here!” Danny yelled, waving to his beret’d friend from the corner of the alley. It was, as far as these things went, pretty typical. A narrow concrete passageway flanked by dumpsters and fire escape ladders. Surprisingly clean, but who spends enough of their time behind the library to litter?

“Hey guys,” Tucker greeted, holding up his hand to both Danny and Sam. “We all good to go?”

“Yep, just gonna get a picture of a good spot to teleport to and send it to her,” Danny replied, wandering further down the alley to do just that.

“So what did you bring?” Tucker asked Sam quietly.

“... Wrist ray. Thermos,” Sam whispered cautiously. “You?”

“Fenton Eyepiece” Tucker said, putting on the device in question. It resembled a high tech monocle, and was one of the bits of equipment the Fenton’s had designed for Tucker specifically. It let him sync up with any nearby Fenton defences and use them remotely. Now that the town was fairly inundated with Fenton Work’s technology, it was immensely useful during attacks or patrols.

“OK, we’re set!” Danny declared, hitting send on the picture.

It was a tense few seconds amongst the 3 friends while they waited for some sign that Ember was on her way. Sam fiddled with the metallic device on her wrist, powering it up and down. Despite her agreement, she found she was treating this like it was about to get violent in a hurry, and forced her hands to her sides. Tucker idly flicked through all of the tech likely to be useful nearby on his eyepiece, warming it up.

Then the wind picked up, and a small column of flame appeared in the dead centre of the alley. Before too long, the flames dispersed, and there, with her habitual scowl, but without her habitual guitar, was Ember, her hands clenching and unclenching out of... fear? Nerves? Anger? Nobody could quite tell.

“Um... hi?” Tucker waved uncertainly.

“’Sup, dipsticks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit more of a setup chapter this time around, but hey, sometime you need that. For my part, I don’t feel like either Tucker or especially Sam would simply go along with any plan to include Ember in anything, but I do feel Danny would try to talk to them and get them involved; he’s a good friend like that. Thus, the Paulina button had to be pressed.
> 
> As for more specifics of what they’re doing, next chapter, dear readers, next chapter.


	6. VR Troopers: Danny and Ember's Oddly Normal Day

_Well, I guess this could be more awkward? We could actually be blasting each other?_ Danny thought, trying to find the positives in the thick atmosphere.

He was caught in the middle of a stare off. Sam, Tucker and Ember were all stock still, not quite glaring at each other, but not making any overtures of cordiality either. Sam’s hands kept twitching to her wrist ray that Danny was pretending not to have noticed, while Ember’s fist occasionally had a faint glow to it when she clenched it. Only Tucker seemed like he wasn’t trying to decide between violence or peace, but that didn’t mean much with that eyepiece. He could have any nearby defences ready to go any second.

_Actually, I take it back. Blasting would be way less awkward._

Sighing, Danny stepped in between his friends and Ember, facing the ghost girl with a shaky smile.

“Hey, Em,” he said, a little abashed. “Get here OK?”

At the stupid question, Ember noticeably relaxed, a small grin plastering itself across her face. The hand that had been powering up an ectoblast went loose, and found its way to her hip.

“Nah, I got waylaid by Australian land pirates on my way here, but they left after they realised trying to steal fire had been done before.”

“Ah, well, sometimes you have to go for the classics of crime.”

Ember chuckled a little, before looking at their surroundings. “Gotta say, baby pop, you really know how to show a girl a good time. A dingy side alley, sandwiched between a dumpster and weapons, very classy,” she quipped sarcastically. Danny put his hand to his chest in mock offense.

“Gasp! You dare to impugn my honour? Why, this is the finest alley in all of Amity and I cleaned it especially for you!” he enthused dramatically.

“Did you just _say_ gasp? What are you, a comic book character?”

“Regency romance character, actually,” Danny replied. At Ember’s expression, he made a defensive motion with his hands. “Had to read _Pride and Prejudice_ for English class, got a taste for them. The bad ones are _hilarious_.”

“Every day, in every way, you keep surprising me by being even _more_ of a dork than I took you for!” Ember cackled.

“Finally, I’m exceeding somebody’s expectations,” Danny wiped a non-existent tear from his eye. “I’ve never been so proud.”

“Hey, it had to happen eventually, even if it was just by accident,” Ember smirked, before clasping her hands in front of her and affecting a bad English accent, to Danny’s barely contained laughter. “You’ve become an even bigger dipstick than I thought possible! And to think my family thought you’d amount to nothing! Oh, it stirs my core to see you make something of yourself!”

“And I didn’t even have to - Guys? You alright?” Danny interrupted his shot back at her as he turned around. Sam and Tucker were both staring nonplussed at the two of them, any pretence of hostility vanished, replaced with disorientation.

“Uh, Danny?” Tucker inquired, pointing between the ghost boy and Ember. “What was that?”

“... What was what?" Danny asked, confused.

“That whole... routine,” Sam said, waving in their direction. “Did you rehearse that?”

“Um... no?” Danny looked to Ember, who just shrugged.

“Don’t look at me, baby pop, I dunno what they mean.”

“That whole Marx Brothers bit just then! The jokes, the insults, the... you didn’t plan that?” Sam looked bewildered. Of all the things she’d been expecting out of this meeting, a spontaneous comedy sketch hadn’t been one of them.

“Oh. No. That’s just how we talk, I guess?” Danny uncertainly responded. Ember nodded firmly.

“Baby pop’s pretty much the only person I’ve met who can keep up with me and my mouth,” she explained, before catching the looks the other two sent each other. “Not like that, you pervs!”

“Only pretty much? Who else is there?” Tucker asked, actually curious. “I didn’t think there was anyone who could run their mouth like Danny.”

“Hey!”

“The geek’s only saying what we all know,” Ember grinned at Danny’s look of betrayal. “Kitty when she’s having a good day, Penny on the right subjects, and Johnny when he’s worked up, for your information. None of ‘em is as consistently entertaining as the dipstick there.”

“Quit sulking, Danny,” Sam snarked. “You’re in such esteemed company there.”

“Betrayed by my closest friends. The one defeat I never saw coming,” Danny groused, his arms folded over his chest. Sam could tell it was faked, though, allowing himself to be the target if it broke the ice between everyone. With a jolt of guilt, it occurred to her that he’d been doing that since Ember arrived, acting the idiot to set her at ease while she’d been on the verge of starting a fight with the rocker. He must really want this to work out.

 _Well,_ thought Sam, _then I do too._

She left Danny to his faux-tantrum, and walked up to Ember. The diva eyed her with wariness, which turned to surprise when Sam took the wrist ray off and flung it over her shoulder. With a sincere smile, she held out her hand to the ghost girl.

“Wanna start this over?” she asked. For a brief moment, Ember’s mask cracked, uncertainty and fear showing, which only got worse when Tucker stepped forward as well. She pasted it over swiftly, but Sam caught it.

“Yeah, we kinda got off on the wrong foot,” Tucker joined, taking his Fenton eyepiece off and pocketing it. Hey, it was one of a kind and expensive. Dramatic gestures are for the cheap tech.

Ember looked from goth to geek and back again. And then... she smiled. Not a smirk, not a grin, not a malicious contortion of the mouth. A genuine, warm smile. It vanished as quickly as it came.

“Whatever, spooks,” she said, feigned indifference fooling nobody, but taking Sam’s hand in a shake.

Danny looked over at his friends with the biggest grin on his face.

_I knew I could count on them._

* * *

The quartet soon exited the alley, after a few more jokes at Danny’s expense. Thankfully, the area surrounding the library wasn’t particularly populated, so they could walk and talk mostly uninterrupted – that was going to get harder the nearer they got to the VRCade and the fans started piling up. As it was, they got a few odd looks from people there, mostly directed at Ember, but apparently Danny being there was relieving any concerns they may have.

Things between the four were still a little tense, Danny reflected, but at least the level was down to “I don’t know this person very well” instead of “do I shoot them or say hello”. That, he could work with without sacrificing too much of his dignity.

“Baby pop did _what_?!” Ember laughed, as Tucker relayed the third embarrassing tale in almost as many minutes.

Not _too_ much.

“He flew straight into a billboard! It was like, a week after he started practicing with his powers, and he figured intangibility was automatic. Like, it would just turn on when he was in danger. Nope! He put his head through the thing. Good thing that was when we learned he heals really fast as well,” Tucker grinned, and Danny tried his hardest not to groan.

“Once. You fly into _one_ billboard and it’s always near the top of the list of stories you two tell,” he grumbled, not really meaning it. Sam sidled up next to him.

“Don’t worry, Danny, I won’t be telling that one anymore,” she patted his arm with false reassurance. “Instead, I’ll be telling everyone you read _regency romances_.”

“Hey, I have no shame about that! You tell anyone you want!”

“Yeah, Invisobillboard can like what he likes,” Ember said, grinning wildly at Danny’s sudden horror and Sam’s terrible attempts to hold in her laughter.

“Oh no. Please, I am begging you, do _not_ spread that one around! It was bad enough being called Invisobill the first time!”

Ember merely cackled, driven mad with social power. Tucker and Sam both stiffened slightly at that, reminded briefly of the bad old days, before relaxing into laughing along with her. Outwardly, Danny pouted. Inwardly, well, he was pretty glad to see it – this whole thing still might crash and burn, but at least everyone’s trying.

A silence fell over the group for a few seconds, as everyone struggled for something new to talk about, having exhausted mocking the ghost boy ( _Thankfully_ ). Tucker eventually spoke up, turning to Ember.

“So, anything good going on in the Ghost Zone?”

Ember snorted. “Ha, as if. That place is duller than country music. About the only interesting thing that’s happened recently was someone stole a ton or two of soul-steel from Walker. Oh, yeah, he might come through soonish to vent, by the by.”

“Oh joy, good to know,” Danny muttered.

“Actually, speaking of coming through, aren’t you worried if another ghost turns up? Danny mentioned something about being seen with him being bad,” Sam inquired.

“Nah, we should be fine,” Ember dismissed, waving her hand. “Any alert goes off or baby pop gets his vapour breath, I turn invisible until we find out who it is, and ‘port away if it’s a ghost with something resembling a brain.”

“What about human news and stuff? Danny, uh, tends to attract a crowd. Won’t be _that_ much of a problem where we’re going, but gaming sites occasionally keep up, and local news doesn’t leave him alone” Tucker pointed out.

“Oh, this is the fun bit,” Danny replied, turning to Ember. “Hey, Em, who’s the mayor of Amity right now?”

She shrugged. “How the heck would I know, dipstick? And what’s up with the geek?” she asked, as Tucker sputtered furiously.

“What-It’s me! I’m the mayor! How do you not _know_ that?!”

Ember stared at Tucker, disbelieving. “What, _you?!_ The heck kinda sense does that make, a 16 year old mayor? When did that happen?!”

“Like right after the Disasteroid! I mean, I leave most of the day to day to my mayor algorithm now, but, just, what?” Tucker demanded, his voice almost whining. His _one_ claim to fame outside of Danny, and it was a _doozy,_ and the hot ghost didn’t know about it?! Unfair!

“Yeah, ghosts apparently pay no attention to human news, social media or stuff like that unless it’s something they’re interested in,” Danny explained. “So basically the only person who might notice is Technus, and he’s lost interest in the VRCade since he can’t get through the anti-him stuff we put in.”

“Doesn’t help that to _get_ any of that stuff in the Zone you gotta go through Technus anyway, and uh, you can imagine how that normally goes,” Ember deadpanned.

“Ah. Like tech support but a never ending nightmare of ego and shouting,” Sam rolled her eyes.

“Pretty much, spooks.”

“Oh yeah, that’s another thing, we get nicknames now? Why ‘spooks’?” Sam asked, eyebrow raised.

“’Cause you’re spooky. Woulda thought that one would be obvious,” Ember said, while Sam tried hard to stop herself preening. The _ghost_ called her spooky. This was the proudest moment of her goth life.

“And I get geek? Original,” Tucker’s voice dripped sarcasm, still annoyed.

“Nah, nah, you’re _the_ geek. You’re the geek all other geeks spring from.”

Tucker paused, considering. “OK. Yeah, I can live with that.”

After a moment, everyone turned to look at Danny.

“... What? I’m not asking, I’m just used to baby pop by now,” Danny responded.

“Good thing too, ‘cause I’m pretty sure I’ve forgotten your actual name, dipstick,” she smirked.

“Fine, it’ll make it easier for you when I change my name to Ascua Apesta and move to Mexico to flee all this _bullying_ ,” Danny huffed, while Tucker’s mouth quirked at the chosen name.

“Run as far as you like, baby pop, you’re not escaping me and my mockery!”

“Oh, what have I done, allowing this _gremlin_ into my life?” Danny asked the sky melodramatically, to the giggles of his friends.

“You two do this every time you talk? You should charge admission,” Sam grinned, as Ember made a ‘so-so’ motion with her hand.

“I guess so? Never really noticed. Although thinking about it, this is kinda weird for us?” Ember said, Danny tilting his head in acknowledgement.

“Maybe a little, yeah. Performance anxiety because we have an audience?” he joked.

“Might be. Never really been in front of an audience I couldn’t just _make_ like me,” Ember remarked, lightly, to the tense looks of the two humans. Suddenly reminded what she was capable of, most likely. Danny, however, added a tally to a mental checklist. _That’s two._

The silence that followed was more awkward than previous, as the three members of Team Phantom studied their temporary teammate, who seemed oblivious of the tension she’d created.

“So what exactly are we doing, anyway? Baby pop was _real_ light on details,” Ember asked nonchalantly, snapping Tucker out of his uneasy examination, to the dismay of Sam.

“Oh no, you’ve done it now...” she muttered, to Ember’s confusion.

“What? I just want to-Oh,” Ember replied, flatly, seeing the mad gleam in Tucker’s eye. It was similar to the look Skulker would get whenever he wanted to talk hunting.

And so the whole group was treated to the short history of the VRCade and the tech behind it and, more importantly, that it was Tucker’s baby and totally his doing.

In the early days, setting his mayoral agenda, Tucker had known exactly two things – one, this could be leveraged to hit on girls, and two, he wanted to increase the tech presence in Amity Park. It would bring in a lot of money, jobs and most importantly was actually interesting for him to talk about, unlike a _lot_ of the other stuff involved in his new job, like “zoning restrictions”, “ghost crime” and “child labour laws”, the latter of which people kept bringing up for some reason.

Some of it had been easy enough – commission the Fentons and through them, Damon Grey, to build some ghost alarms and defence systems for public areas and government buildings. None of which was the super destructive stuff, because Tucker knew the Fentons well enough to veto _that_ , but the traps, the capture weapons, the stalling devices – basically anything that would slow the average ghost down so someone (usually Danny) could turn up and deal with them – those were perfect. In about 3 months, the town was leading the world in spectral defences.

The other parts, getting tech companies to settle, had been trickier. Apparently he couldn’t just outright pay them to do so? How had Masters gotten away with so much nonsense during his tenure? Well, besides the fact he was evil, rich and super-powered. Oh, that was probably how. In any case, he had to be trickier. Tax breaks for tech companies, incentives, weird little bits of legal chicanery that kinda went over his head, but the lawyers insisted would work and also wouldn’t get either of them arrested. So he’d insisted on at least doing the interviews for any of the companies that applied.

And really, did anyone expect him to say no when a start-up came to him with virtual reality technology that runs directly off your brain?

And so the VRCade was born, paperwork put through with almost indecent haste and concerns about psychological issues waved aside. You just lie down, put a helmet on and you’ve got full, one-to-one control of the character you’re playing as! How cool is that?! No way Tucker isn’t making this a big thing for Amity. And to that end, he enlisted a favour!

Day one of the arcades opening, Team Phantom was there, drawing news crowds that wouldn’t bother otherwise, signing autographs, making a big thing of it. It helped that the first game they made was an adaptation of a Danny’s favourite show, right?

“I mean, yeah, but I was not expecting it to be that big of a thing,” Danny protested, interrupting Tucker’s narrative. “You could have warned me!”

“I kinda figured you’d have been used to it by then. It was fine in the end, I mean, we won!” Tucker retorted.

Ember shot Danny a quick sympathetic expression – He gave her a half smile in response.

“Yeah, we did. Barring a few losses here and there, we’ve been top of the leader boards for 6 months,” Sam added, oblivious to the little exchange behind her as the group kept moving forward. During Tucker’s rant, they entered more populated areas, and Danny had had to fend off more than a few people, either fans of his or, in a couple of cases, Ember’s, as well as a number of people fearful of the ghostly diva. He’d been able to calm them down fairly easily, and he hoped the same would be true once they hit the VRCade itself.

_I hope I can calm them down? Wow, I didn’t think this through enough, did I? I swear that’s going on my grave._

“Anyway, that’s the short version. I’d give you the long one, but we don’t have 3 hours and also Sam has been pinching me to shut up for the last block and half,” Tucker rubbed the arm Danny realised Sam had been next to for a while.

“And this is why I was light on details,” Danny said drily. “Habit from knowing we’d get a 20 minute lecture at minimum.”

“I figured,” Ember responded, equally arid. Danny was honestly just impressed she’d stayed quiet throughout the whole thing. “Alright, so, lucid cyber-dream, got it. But what are we actually _doing_? I still dunno what this game is.”

“Ah, yeah, the bit I actually _could_ have explained,” Danny cringed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “Basically, it’s a team game, 4 players to a team. We pick a character; each character has different abilities and weapons; we use those characters to beat the stuffing out of the enemy team and take objectives. Pretty simple.”

“The big difference to other games, though,” Tucker butted in, “is the one-to-one control. We’re at kind of an unfair advantage there, because we’ve actually been in serious fights, and all those skills carry over.”

“So how do you explain you, who ran and hid from every ghost encounter, being any good?” Sam sassed, to Tucker’s whine and Danny’s contented smile.

_Ah, finally, balance is restored._

As Sam and Tucker bickered ahead of them, Ember slowed down to walk beside Danny, leaning in a little.

“So, favourite show, huh?”

Danny started, surprised. “Uh, yeah. _Nebula Patrol._ It’s an updated throwback to classic sci-fi, a little like _Crash Nebula_ but aged up. It’s all ray guns, rockets, fishbowl space suits, that kinda thing. But they took all the old characters those things used to have and made them more interesting or at least less goofy.”

“Oh yeah? So what did they do with the usual hero? You know, the far too manly hero type, best at everything, beyond boring goody-goody. How do you make _that_ interesting?” Ember inquired disdainfully. Danny’s eyebrows rose, and Ember rolled her eyes. “What, I have interests outside of music.”

“Could have fooled me. Yeah, that kind of character is there. Captain Rich Kaeler, one of the heroes. My favourite, actually.”

“Oh, there’s a surprise,” Ember sneered playfully. “The big time superhero likes the boring perfect hero type. I swear, if you get any more predictable...” she finished with a grin, which Danny returned.

“Ah, all this predictability and you _still_ couldn’t beat me,” he rejoined, which caused Ember to scowl.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. So why’d you like the guy anyway? What makes him interesting?” she quizzed. Danny hesitated, and his eyes flicked back to his friends, still arguing in that familiar manner, before leaning in a little further to answer.

“Oh, you mean the guy who was genetically engineered to be the perfect leader and is manipulated by expectation and circumstance into rising through the ranks and fighting when all he wants to do is help the orphanage he grew up in and pursue his actual dream? That guy?” Danny questioned softly. “I’ve got no idea why I might relate, how about you?”

“Nope, can’t think why that would resonate,” Ember replied after a moment, a small, knowing smile on her lips. “Does he wear a jumpsuit? It’s the jumpsuit isn’t it. You’ve got a thing.”

“Oh no, you’ve cracked my secret,” Danny deadpanned, before laughing along with Ember, to the confusion of the two humans, who shrugged and went back to their argument.

* * *

The VRCade was packed. They’d known it would be before going there. If Team Phantom were going to be at the arcade, it would be midday on a Saturday – their usual slot. Probably didn’t help that this wasn’t a scheduled match, organised by the owners of the arcade. No, this was a few games where teams who were in the crowd might be in with a chance to play. Anyone who wanted the chance to meet and/or fight them was going to be there. Still, this was more than they were used to, and Danny spotted more Casper High students than normal. Weird.

The place itself was fairly large, having taken over part of an old packing factory for its use. It was well decked out in the usual “serious gaming” aesthetic – all blacks and reds and minimalism except for the endorsements and ads slapped about seemingly at random. The colossal screen on the longest wall above a stage displayed whatever matches was considered worth running at the time, and there were dozens of smaller screens, all of which gathered small crowds to watch whatever was happening. Large, black cylinders sprouted like mushrooms at regular intervals – the VR rooms, where players went to plug their brains into definitely not psychosis inducing machines.

It was a testament to how full the place was that it actually took a while for the reduced Team Phantom plus someone whose ponytail could be used as a signal to passing ships to be noticed, but when they were, they were suddenly very grateful for the existence of intangibility. Ember and Danny grabbed Sam and Tucker’s shoulders to let them push through the crowd, heading towards their usual contact on game days – Mikey, a classmate from Casper and all around nerd. Getting a part time job here had been the one and only favour he’d asked from his occasional association with the team. Otherwise, he didn’t treat any of them very differently, an attitude for which Danny was immensely grateful, especially next to the few dozen shouting fans.

“Danny! DANNY! Could you sign my shirt?!”

“Forget him, sign my chest!”

“How is half ghost a thing?!”

“Grace us with your combat skills, oh exalted one!”

“Awww, where’s the Red Huntress? She’s my favourite!”

“Is that _Ember McLain?!_ Somebody get the emergency thermos!”

“You go through this every time you want to _play a game_?” Ember asked incredulously.

“It’s a really good game!” Danny deflected, waving down the guy going for the red case containing some emergency supplies. “It’s fine, she’s with me!” he shouted after him, before turning back and furrowing his brow. “Although this is more people than usual...”

“Danny! Sam! Tucker! Through here!” Mikey shouted over the din, trying to usher them into a side room. They made a beeline for it, dropping intangibility the instant Mikey shut the door.

“Yeesh. Is there some event nobody told us about?” Tucker demanded, to Mikey’s frantically bemused shrug.

“I dunno! You turning up always makes Saturday busy, but I have no idea why there’s so many today!”

“Got wind I was coming, maybe?” Ember suggested, trying not to guffaw at the way Mikey jumped when he realised who else had walked in with them.

“U-um, no, I-I don’t think so, Ms. M-McLain,” he stammered, clearly more than a little nervous around her. Ember fought very hard to not look pleased about that. “I’d ex-expect more merch of you in that case. Plus, someone messed with the schedule!”

“How do you mean?” Sam queried, increasingly wary.

“I mean you’ve got an actual match today! The take all comers thing’s been wiped, some new team is lined up to go against you,” Mikey cried, waving his hands in frustration. “I don’t even know who, they talked the bosses into keeping it a secret for a ‘dramatic reveal’ or something.”

“Oh, that doesn’t sound suspicious,” Danny muttered.

“Ghost suspicious or regular suspicious?” Tucker asked, trying to ignore the occasional yips of fear coming from Mikey. Ember was apparently finding decent sport in making scary faces at him.

“Regular, I think. This doesn’t feel like anything anyone we usually fight would pull. Master’s Blasters wanting a comeback, maybe?” Danny opined.

“Well, whoever it is, you’ve got about 5 – AH!” Mikey screeched as Ember put her head through his chest to glare at him. “Y-you’ve got 5 minutes b-before you’ve got to be on stage WOULD YOU STOP THAT PLEASE!”

“Stop jumping and I might~” Ember teased, removing her arm from the inside of his head. Intangibility was fun.

“Oh, let’s just get to the stage, you _menace”_ Sam complained, waving Ember out of the room and Danny noted with a grin there was no hostility in the epithet.

* * *

 _Of course,_ Danny groaned into his mind. _Of course this is the kind of ridiculousness that happens on my day off._

The crowd was roaring and applauding, taking the announcement of Ember being their replacement for Valerie much better than Danny had thought they would, especially after Ember decided to snatch the mic from the presenter and work the crowd a little. She was good at that, after all, and before long had them more hyped than before. Unfortunately Danny was too preoccupied with the name and indeed members of the other team, both displayed prominently on the screen behind them.

_Team Phantom vs. The A-List._

Because of _course_ Paulina wouldn’t let Ember being on the team instead of her go unanswered. Of _course_ she’d leverage what power she had through her parents and her own influence to get on stage to compete and pack it full of Casper High students to watch her win her man or whatever nonsense was going through her head. And of _course_ she’d decide to do all this in the most dramatic fashion possible. Lately she didn’t seem capable of anything else.

Danny risked a glance to the other side of the stage, where the A-List were standing, waiting for the announcer to be done introducing the match, and instantly caught Paulina’s eyes on him, expression mingled determination and concern, for whatever reason. Resisting the incoming eye roll, he turned his eyes to the next of the popular kids in line, Star, who gave him a small smile and a little wave that he returned somewhat awkwardly. Not fair to judge her by her friends actions, after all. His gaze slid along to Kwan, who looked very much like he didn’t want to be there, nerves written all over his body language, even if his face maintained a wobbly smile.

And of course, at the far end, glaring at Danny with hatred the ghost boy felt rise in himself, was Dash Baxter, his erstwhile tormentor and jerk extraordinaire. Dash’s eyes never wavered from Danny, his scowl only deepening as he noticed Danny’s eye on him, mouthing the words “you’re dead” at him. Danny just returned a smirk, watching as Dash visibly _itched_ to wipe it off his face then and there, as if he still could.

When the teams were brought together for a handshake (and photo-opportunity, it was so transparent), Dash grasped his hand as tight as he could, enough that Danny felt the need to call up his ghost strength to fight back against it. Whatever else you could say of Dash, he was still incredibly strong.

“You’re finally gonna _pay,_ Fenturd,” He hissed, just loud enough to be heard over the crowd. Before Danny could respond, he’d turned aside, marching with his fellow A-Listers to the VR room on their side of the stage. Danny and Team Phantom did the same, Ember looking at him curiously. Ah, right, ghost hearing is better. She overheard.

_I don’t have the faintest idea what Dash is talking about, though! Pay for what? It’s not like I ever-_

Danny stopped his train of thought, and slowly grinned. He’d been so preoccupied by the sudden appearance of two of his least favourite people and their hangers on that he’d forgotten what they were doing, and the fact that this meant he got to _shoot them_.

_I take it back. This pleases me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because Tucker and Sam are good friends and nobody will convince me otherwise.
> 
> Well, this one turned out longer than I thought it would. I was a little worried when I was done that this would be too much conversation and not enough action but then I remembered a), I hate when fics just skip past establishing the dynamic between a group and a new person (in this case, everyone bully Danny), and b), I get the most positive feedback for the dialogue in this thing anyway, so the heck with it. Enjoy!
> 
> Danny and Ember surprised me when I was writing this one. It’s always pleasantly jarring to be writing two characters, and suddenly realise they’re speaking differently because they’re in public as opposed to by themselves, and they go back to their usual interactions when they appear to be alone. I hope this means I have a decent grasp on them.
> 
> Next chapter might take a little longer because it is probably gonna be lengthy, apologies!
> 
> Thing I’m oddly proud of: Invisobillboard.


	7. VR Troopers: Laning Phase

“So what was with the idiot?” Ember asked, casually tossing another helmet into her pile of not quite right ones.

“Please be specific,” Tucker drawled, eliciting a short burst of laughter from everyone in the somewhat cramped space, trying on the various VR helmets to find one that fit well. It wouldn’t matter too much when they were _in_ the game, Danny had explained to Ember, but you come out of it with a headache if you’ve not got one that fits.

“Fine, the big idiot,” Ember amended.

“Still doesn’t help much,” Sam deadpanned.

“The big blond baboon! Heck, all of them, but him in particular. Why’s he hate baby pop so much? Didja thwart all of his plans too?” she snarked back.

“Honestly? I don’t really know,” Danny admitted. “For a few days after I revealed myself, he was way too chummy, even after I’d laughed in their faces about joining their little gang.”

“Never been prouder of you, by the way,” Sam added, Danny nodding in acknowledgement.

“Thanks. But then he just sorta... snapped back to how he was before it all, but worse. Didn’t matter to him none of his usual stunts worked now I could use my powers without a problem, he kept trying. Not sure why,” Danny trailed off, puzzled, before shaking it off.

“He’s a big stupid jock with pretentions of being the king of the school,” Sam cut in. “Does he really need much more reason than that to get worse?”

“I guess so,” he replied, not sounding convinced. He watched as the others kept trying helmets – he’d found one that fit him pretty early on and held it at his side.

“Worse?” Ember inquired, her tone oddly serious.

“Like Sam said, big stupid jock who thinks he’s in charge. How do you think he enforces that?” Danny replied dryly. “I think I’ve still got some bruises from freshman year.”

“As for the rest of them, Kwan, the other guy, is basically too attached to football and too scared of losing his social status to do anything other than what Dash wants, so he goes along with just about anything,” Tucker continued.

“Paulina, you’ve met, and yes, she was always that shallow and dramatic. The fixation on Danny isn’t original either, she just knows who he is now,” Sam remarked disdainfully, before furrowing her brow. “Although the whole perfect comic book romance thing is... new. And as for Star-“

“Star’s cool,” Danny interrupted firmly.

“Yeah, right,” Sam scoffed.

“Hey, how many of the others actually walked up to us and _apologised?”_ Danny retorted. “I don’t see Kwan or Dash trying that! Even Paulina’s never tried it, and she’s actively trying to get in my jumpsuit!”

“Even I don’t think you’re that naive, baby pop,” Ember joined in, unexpectedly, throwing another imperfect fit over her shoulder. “You gotta know it’s just because you’re _somebody_ to those people now. It wouldn’t have happened if you’d stayed hidden.”

“Probably not,” he conceded. “It’s not like we didn’t tell her that at the time, either. She’s still the only one to have done it, though, and since then, we’ve all seen her step in on bullying before we can get there. She’s alright in my book just for that.”

“Still not enough,” Sam declared, folding her arms. “If she really meant it, she’d have ditched her so-called friends. I’m not seeing her stop Dash or Paulina.”

“Well, we don’t talk to her much anyway, so it’s a moot point,” Tucker said, trying to calm things down. Sam and Danny both agreed, not wanting an argument. “That’s the gist of the guys we’re up against. Everyone else in the A-List just kinda falls in line behind Dash and Paulina more for the prestige than anything else.”

“Psh. As if they can compete with an actual superhero and his two sidekicks anyway.”

“Hey!” Tucker shouted, aggrieved.

“You’re sidekicks, deal with it,” Ember jeered, before slipping a helmet on and fist pumping. “Yes, perfect! Now let’s go shoot these jerks!”

“Not that I’m complaining about the enthusiasm, and I’m _really_ not,” Sam began, “but you seem a little invested in this? What gives, why do you care about our set of idiots?”

Ember froze for a moment, her face contemplative. Danny figured she was struggling with how much, if anything, to share at this point. He wasn’t really surprised when she deflected by shrugging and adopting a casual posture.

“What, you wouldn’t be excited to blast a bunch of people who deserve it?” she replied, a cocky little smirk on her face. “I get to absolutely wreck some goons and get cheered for it. What’s not to love?”

Sam and Tucker looked at each other, tilted their heads as if to say “fair enough”, and went back to searching the helmets. Ember wandered over to where Danny was standing, chucking her headgear in the air and catching it as she went.

“Will our idiots do as substitutes for yours?” He murmured as she settled in next to him to watch the other two scrabble.

“Not really,” she admitted, not moving from her face forward position next to him. “Still be pretty good fun imagining otherwise, though.”

He nodded, and they waited as patiently as they could for the other two to be done.

“Would you two _hurry up?!”_

Which wasn’t very patiently, frankly.

* * *

The first few seconds were always disorienting.

Tucker had explained it to him once, the helmets syncing up with your nervous system or something. The few moments where you had a body but couldn’t quite control it made the brain, quote, “freak out”, for a few moments. It was during those moments that made Danny suddenly recall all the supposedly minor concerns about the effects the tech could have, but he always ended up dismissing it. If it were actually dangerous, he’d have no doubt Tucker would-

OK, maybe Tucker wouldn’t, but all the oversight that some project like this was bound to have wouldn’t allow it to go forward if the risk was significant. The people who worked at the mayor’s office weren’t quite as blinded by fancy tech as his best friend was, and were rather more aware of these little things called “lawsuits” and “criminal negligence”.

Before too long, Danny opened his eyes and was greeted with a flat black plane, with small pedestals displaying holograms, the skybox festooned with stars and constellations (which Danny had noted a few times don’t match up to any existing ones, but eh, artistic license). The game lobby was a familiar sight, and he instantly walked up to a well-known pedestal and pushed the button on it. The hologram became more solid and defined as a voice boomed across the lobby:

“CHARACTER SELECTED: CAPTAIN KAELER, COMMONWEALTH HERO.”

In an instant, the outfit and equipment faded into place over his body – Bright red gloves and boots, blue jumpsuit with accents in the same red, goggles with HUD and targeting software, holster and a somewhat bulky, curved ray gun. He pulled the gun out and gave it a twirl, before grinning and putting it away, ignoring Ember’s snickering and whisper of “Jumpsuit. Knew it,” from behind him.

“CHARACTER SELECTED: DR. RANYA, MAVERICK INVENTOR.”

Danny hadn’t needed the announcement to know Sam would have picked her usual character. Sleek silver spacesuit and boots, fishbowl helmet and two ringed cylinders attached to her wrists above some flexible, silver-circuited gauntlets– infinite energy ray weapons, they’re called in the show. And the jetpack, of course, the primary draw of the character beyond her ability to invent gadgets and explosives on the fly.

“CHARACTER SELECTED: TCR-17, PATRIOTIC DEMOLISHER.”

Tucker’s was the most drastic transformation – he obviously couldn’t simply wear the components of a 2 meter tall, heavily armed and overly patriotic robot with tank treads without looking at least a little ridiculous. Instead, the image of Danny’s friend simply hovered slightly whilst the ‘bot was built around him, exaggerated torso and smiling head slamming atop the treads as the droid was completed. Tucker had described playing as the battle android as like driving a car – he’s not _quite_ in control of all the bits and pieces, but near enough to get the job done. The plasma cannon and rapid firing heavy ray gun he had instead of arms likely compensated for whatever loss of fine control he had.

Danny turned from his friends and their selections, hoping to help Ember find a character that would suit her, only to see her grinning wildly and enthusiastically kicking the selection button on a pedestal in the far corner.

“CHARACTER SELECTED: JAE’ALOR, THE RED AMAZON OF MARS.”

In contrast to the other 3, it would be easy at first glance to assume that the armour that materialised around Ember was from a work of fantasy rather than science fiction. The pulsating glowing lines running up the sides of the legs and arms, as well as other, more minor but obviously technological details around the forearms, shoulders and back gave it away, however. It was also too sleek; with too few visible joints or seams to be a product of the dark ages. The deep red metal that encased the majority of Ember’s frame was not what drew Danny’s eye, though.

No, that would the wickedly curved, two headed axe of the same colour with a long shaft which Ember spun in her hands, cackling with glee.

“I can have an axe! Why didn’t anyone tell me I could have an axe to swing around?! I am chopping that pink pest in _half_! Ha!”

“Y’know, I think I’d kill for your confidence,” Tucker remarked. “Wander into a game you don’t know, pick a character pretty much at random and still be sure of winning.”

“Aw, c’mon, Tuck, when have you ever thought of failure? Look at your track record!” Danny snarked. “Every girl in town asked out, and you still don’t quit!”

“Persistence is key, Danny. Persistence is key.”

“To a restraining order,” Sam shot back. “Still though, did you read what she can do?”

“I got about as far as ‘axe’ and ‘can bust through walls like the Kool-Aid Man’ before I hit the gimmie button,” Ember replied, taking a few more experimental swings with the vicious looking weapon. “What can you do, anyway? I’m guessing you’ve each got something, but I doubt it tops my new baby~”

“Anyone else worried that she’s already way too attached to that?” Tucker asked a little nervously.

“Being bisected by an axe wielding Ember wasn’t... well, OK, it _was_ on the list of ways I thought I might die, but it was pretty low on the list. Going to need to revise that when I get home,” Danny deadpanned. “Anyway, Captain Kaeler’s reasonably tough, got a high-powered pistol and can move at super speed for a second or two before it needs a recharge.”

At Ember’s curious expression, he elaborated. “Best translation to game they have for what he can actually do in the show, which is slow down his perception of time to act quicker.”

“Jetpack, infinite ammo and I can make bombs and stuff on the field” Sam added, before Ember could question any of that. “Takes me a little while and I need scrap, but makes for a fun surprise. Downside is I’m pretty fragile and my standard weapons are weak.”

“I am _made of guns_ ,” Tucker declared, spinning his arm cannons.

“I can see that,” Ember replied laconically. “So what now? When do I get to use Andre on the delusional headache with legs?”

“Oh, she’s named it, this will _not_ end well,” the geek turned mechanical death machine muttered.

“Named _him_ , thank you,” Ember retorted primly. “But yeah, what now?”

Sam shrugged. “Settle in for a bit, probably. Normally we’d be picking a map, but we can only do that when the others have picked their characters, and I’m pretty sure they’re gonna be a whi-”

“ALL TEAMS HAVE SELECTED THEIR CHARACTERS. SELECT YOUR MAP.”

“... huh.”

“I’d make some smart aleck comment about being proven wrong before even finishing the sentence, but I’ve kinda lost track of the times I’ve poked Murphy’s Law with a stick until it did something,” Danny mused, flicking through holographic displays showing landscapes with titles, eventually settling on one called “Celestial Engine”.

“The heck is a Celestial Engine, baby pop?”

“Oh, it’s a thing in the show. Ancient machines of unknown origin, some people think they’re leftovers of how the universe was created.”

“... I think I need to watch this show.”

“You should, it’s really good,” Danny reassured, before ploughing on. “OK, so, do we want to split up or stick together?”

“What’s the difference?” Ember asked, mildly bemused.

“This maps got two stages,” Tucker exposited. “First stage, we compete to activate two switches on the surface, then second is a central platform that appears after that. We have to hold that long enough to win.”

“Or wipe out the enemy team,” Sam added. “You can guess my preferred option.”

Ember twirled her axe and grinned at her. “Now you’re speaking _my_ language, spooks! Dibs on pinkie!”

“You do _not_ get to call dibs on her, she’s been a thorn in my side for two years! You’ve known her two minutes!”

“And yet still, I wanna commit murder,” Ember responded.

“Yeah, she has that effect on people.”

“ _Anyway_ ,” Tucker loudly, interrupting the bickering. “If one team gets both the switches in the first stage, they get automated turrets and things on their side in the next.”

“Oh, I get it,” Ember snapped her fingers. “So the smart thing to do would be stick together and definitely get one instead of splitting up to maybe get both, so there’s no advantage _or_ squad lost.”

“Yep, splitting up would be stupid.”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Hit the nail on the head, Em.”

There was a brief silence as they all looked at each other blankly.

“... So who’re we pairing off with?”

* * *

The supernatural members of the team hadn’t dashed more than a few dozen meters before Ember had declared the whole environment “weirder than Technus and his obsession with Rush”, and Danny couldn’t help but agree.

They’d decided if they were going to do the fun thing rather than the smart one, it made more sense for Sam and Tucker to go off together – Ranya was useful, but more fragile than either Jae’Alor or Kaeler, so having the backup of the rolling tank robot with enough firepower to be declared a war crime made the most sense.

Now if only where they were made even half as much sense.

Surrounding them as they made their way to the objective were ruined and wrecked buildings, none of which conformed to a single architectural style, either in universe or out – multiple civilisations had attempted to settle on this ancient mystery, it seemed. About the only feature they had in common was that they had been colourful, festooned in rings and technology. Bowl windows crunched under their feet occasionally as they ran.

What was odd was what had destroyed them wasn’t consistent across the retro-sci-fi buildings. One they passed by at speed looked to have had its walls melt like wax, another blown apart like there had been a colossal burst inside it, but no fire or explosive damage. Another appeared to have spontaneously sprouted dead trees, the roots emerging at random from various parts of the building and cracking the foundation.

And that wasn’t even getting into the parts that were the Engine itself. An ever shifting, ever moving collection of seemingly solid black and blue metals writhed under their feet as they ran, on occasion seeming to form some recognisable pattern or attempt at communication before fading and melting away into the mass of the old machine.

Ember being there was actually a nice reminder for Danny of how great this map looked to him. After a while playing the game, you stopped paying attention to things like that. A shame really, but at least he got to see Ember’s reaction to the whole thing. Sometimes sharing something cool was better than just experiencing it yourself.

“Was being killed by me and an axe really on your list of ways you thought you’d die, baby pop?” Ember casually threw out, her eyes still scanning the wrecked buildings for any sign of her very recent nemesis.

“And like that, the magic is gone,” Danny sighed, smirking.

“What?”

“Doesn’t matter. Yeah, actually. At first it was more figuring out what was likely to happen and how to prevent it. About halfway through, I got bored and started coming up with weird ones, what technically might happen but were really unlikely. It was fun trying to figure out exactly how and why Vlad would drown me in pudding and how to get out of it without just eating it all.”

“I’m sure your therapist thinks that was completely wholesome and healthy,” Ember snarked. “So how’d you know I liked axes?”

“... Huh.” Danny stopped running, looking contemplative. “I have no idea. I guess I just thought of you and weapons, and axe clicked?”

The Red Amazon armour briefly rose as Ember shrugged. “Guess you know me better than I thought. Anyway, don’t stop moving, we’re nearly-“

A loud crack and the sizzling report of a ray beam impacting the strange metals of the Engine by Danny’s foot assaulted their ears, Danny lurching backwards behind a half ruined wall on instinct. Ember brought her axe up to her face in time for another ray, black and flaring with energy, to crash into it, deflecting off the red metal, before she dived into cover on the other side of the pathway. Both began scanning downrange, in the direction the blasts came from. There was no one that they could see, which just made Danny groan.

“Oh, _great_ , one of them picked the Colonel. That’s going to make this tricky...”

“Fill me in, baby pop. What’re we dealing with?”

“Ex-military guy turned hunter, both big game and bounty. He’s got a ray sniper and he can track where we go for a little while. If they were smart, they’d be using him to lock down the main approach to the switch. As it is...”

Danny glowed blue, and in a flash he was next to Ember, crossing the gap between them in no time at all. A belated and futile bolt of energy fired down the pathway, too slow to catch up with Danny’s speed. He grinned at Ember’s stunned look, and dusted himself down.

“... I know a way around from here. Come on, he was probably covering for whoever else is with him. Hurry and we’ll get there first.”

“And then Andre can chop them?”

“Tuck was right, that _is_ getting worrying,” Danny grinned, before dashing into one of the ruined buildings, Ember hot at his heels. The route he led them on was a little winding, but once you looked close enough, or had played enough video games, you could pick out what was traversable and what was not, and thus quickest way to the switch. It led them through several ruined buildings, all with strangely convenient cover in the form of squat, dense tape computers and other advanced anachronisms – map design going from 3D to VR hadn’t really changed much.

No unexpected shots were forthcoming, which Danny put down to player error – playing the Colonel was an exercise is striking and moving, keeping everyone afraid of where the next shot is going to come from. Nevertheless, both moved much more cautiously than before, trying to bait shots in open areas before running through them when none appeared and ducking past under any windows or open sections of the walls.

It was this added caution that saved them from getting decapitated by an energy whip.

Ember spotted it out of the corner of her eye as they entered what Danny told her was the last building before the switch area, an arc of yellow light streaking towards them. Shouting an incoherent warning she grabbed the jumpsuited boy and hurled them both forward as the whip collided with part of the wall they’d entered by, shearing through it instantly with an electric crack. They hit the ground hard as the whip drew back, the vine-like light retracting into a thick handle.

“Oh my gosh, yes! I found you both first! Yay!”

The excited declaration sounded at odds with the figure it came from, standing a dozen meters from where they’d dropped. She wore black boots reaching up to the thigh, a stylised metallic skull and crossbones adorning the top of one of them. A long, unbuckled black coat flared out, festooned with trinkets, bits of scrap yard armour and roughly made symbols, most incorporating skulls of various kinds. A ruffled white shirt, oddly anachronistic, peaked out from behind an armoured corset, lines glowing in a similar manner to the Red Amazon armour. Topping off the whole, eclectic ensemble was a hat, made to resemble a tricorn hat but edged with sharp metal and blades.

All of which contrasted quite sharply with the chipper, cheerful and entirely too energetic blonde underneath said hat.

“I can’t believe we’re _finally_ trying this place out and the first time we do, I get to fight Ember McLain again!” Star exclaimed, her smile broad and her eyes gleaming. “Best day ever! I’m a huge fan and I’m sorry I have to kill you but I really want to win on my first time as my favourite character from the show so I hope you can forgive me and maybe sign something later thanks OK let’s do this!”

The instant she finished her breathless speech, she swung her arm downwards again, the whip manifesting in a blaze of light. It crashed between Ember and Danny as they rolled to avoid it, Danny scrambling to his feet quickly only to have to duck as the lightning came at his head again. He pulled his pistol and fired, an oddly tall projectile erupting from the front of it, only to be slapped aside by the whip in a shower of sparks.

Star practically squealed. “It _can_ do that! I knew it!”

Danny darted backwards as the whip came at him again, firing more shots at her that she either dodged remarkably athletically or disintegrated with the yellow energy. He ducked behind a building support as he slotted a small glowing tube into the side of his pistol.

Ember pushed herself upright to join Danny, axe at the ready. “Who is this and are they always this hyper, baby pop?”

“This would be Star, playing as Exie Zelroth, Pirate Queen, can’t say I’ve seen her like this before.”

“I’m sorry I get like this when I’m excited, this is way too much _fun!_ ” Star shouted at them, snapping her arm sideways and hurling the energy arc at them. The pair ducked slightly as the whip carved through the pillar they were taking cover behind.

“Alright, that does it...” Ember muttered. Before Danny could ask, Ember stepped out from behind their cover and charged right at Star, screaming as she raised the axe. The reaction was predictable, the whip snaking out to meet her charge halfway.

A reaction Ember was apparently counting on, as she lashed out with the axe, catching the energy whip on the head of her weapon. It neither destroyed the blade nor vanished, but instead wrapped itself around it, humming and sparking. Before Star could respond with anything beyond the “oops” she let out, Ember hauled the axe backwards, grunting with effort. Star was yanked forward through the air, and met the Amazon’s fist midflight, the force flipping her to the ground. She rolled right as she hit the floor, narrowly avoiding the descending red blades, and the whip flared in her hands as she rose, striking the ground before her, forcing Ember backwards.

The blue haired ghost turned to Danny with a savage smirk, her eyes practically glowing with adrenaline. “Head for the switch, baby pop. I’m gonna spend some _quality time_ with my fan here.”

Danny hesitated. “Are you sure? We could both take her and move on...”

Ember shook her head forcefully. “Nah, dunno how long that’d take and there’s one more of these guys at least out there. Besides, I haven’t had a good fight like this in ages!”

“Me neither! Not since your pirate ship!” Star enthused, a similarly predatory smile on her face as she spun the whip handle around her hand. “Come on, I didn’t get to see if I can beat up my favourite musician last time!”

_She’s way too cheerful for what she’s actually saying_ , Danny thought, as he turned to run, and heard the crackling of the whip and the nearly maniacal laughter of both the girls as they resumed their duel.

* * *

“Hey Sam!” Tucker yelled over the sound of the heavy ray spitting energy bolts.

“Yes, Tucker?” Sam shouted back from on high, near-silent white blasts streaking from her gauntlets as she hovered midair above her friend.

“Is it bad that I’m enjoying killing waves of these things?”

“Eh, maybe a little. See how you feel after we’re done, then seek therapy.”

It had been going so well up to that point. A quick approach, to exploit that their opponents were the definition of inexperienced; they’d made a mad dash to the switch area, forced to take the larger and more open paths through the ruined and mildly disturbing environment to compensate for Tucker’s sheer size as TCR-17, and reached it quickly.

As opposed to the switch Danny and Ember had gone for, which Sam vaguely recalled was a debris strewn ruin, the switch at this end was housed in an almost pristine structure, a grey metal courtyard with a few levels to it. A video game classic.

That was suspended above a vast, bottomless pit, with 3 narrow bridges connecting it to the main body of land, itself littered with destroyed rocket ships and other parts. Also a classic, really.

Fortune, however, did not favour their boldness in rushing there. Almost immediately reaching the circular chasm, they were attacked, but not by any other player. Not directly, anyway.

Grey, lumpen _things_ in purple armour so flimsy as to be nigh useless lumbered out from the rubble all around with incoherent cries and began attacking. Fragile, not especially strong, their only advantage lay in numbers, and their numbers were in abundance. Howling mindlessly from barely formed mouths and attempting to attack, the pair had been forced into a running gun battle against the periodic hordes as they made for the nearest bridge.

They weren’t a threat, really, but they were annoying obstacles and wasted a lot of their time on the way to actually important things.

Much like their master.

“You know, I’m not even _slightly_ surprised Paulina chose the Psychic Empress as her character. It’s just like her to pick the one character whose whole thing is disposable minions and manipulation,” Sam said from her perch on Tucker’s shoulder, casually firing bolts from her wrist into whatever target presented itself.

“Might not be her,” Tucker replied distractedly, detonating his plasma cannon and vaporizing a cluster of the Empress’ golems in a blazing blue light before turning and firing a burst at another group coming up behind them, the ones struck crumbling into something resembling clay. “Could be Star. Or Dash! I always suspected...”

“Let me have my mental image of Paulina acting like a cartoon villain, please.”

“Fine. Wonder when she’ll figure out this isn’t all she can send.”

A deep, throaty roar cascaded out from ahead, behind a large metal plating half inscribed with ship markings, between them and the bridge.

“Tucker...”

“I know, I know. Murphy’s Law, poking it with a stick, when have any of us ever actually learned that lesson.”

The metal plating hovered, and was hurled sideways to allow the entrance of one of the more advanced of the golems. Gorilla-like, with large, brutish arms coated in thick metal armour, a featureless head with only a gaping, tooth-filled maw, the creature was easily the size of truck. With a bellow, it scrabbled at the ground as it charged forward, crushing lesser golem underneath.

Tucker felt a weight leave his shoulder as Sam took to the sky, her thin white energy bolts raking the golem to no obvious effect as she flew around it. The plasma cannon at his left hummed, powering up another blast, but quick mental calculation suggested it wouldn’t be ready before the monster reached him and started tearing him apart.

Alright then. Plan B – Ramming speed.

He pushed himself forward at full speed, treads squealing underneath him as he jumped forward. The rapid ray spat red energy balls at the beast, impacting it all over and slowing its advance as it reacted to the pellets with a roar, covering its face with one arm. The pockmarks and holes made this way sealed themselves over quickly – this one wasn’t as fragile, it seems. As soon as the firing stopped, it dropped its arm, only to be met with several tons of angry robot barrelling into it shoulder first, ruining its momentum and putting it on the back foot. It recovered as quickly as it could, massive paw-like hand swinging round to claw Tucker in the head with metallic clang.

Sparks flew and minor alarms began sounding on the exterior of the robot. The blow, however, also caused the torso portion of TCR to spin on its axis, coming around to smash the barrel of the rapid ray directly into the golems face. Roaring with anger, the beast surged forward again, intent on ripping Tucker apart.

Instead, it ran chest first into the plasma cannon.

The cannon erupted, searing blue fire blasting through the middle of the ape golem, tearing a great hole through the clay like material that composed it. The golem collapsed, writhing on the ground as the grey mass began, slowly, to stitch it back together.

That is, until a Sam landed on the thing like a silver streak, slamming a small green device into the wriggling grey matter before taking off again, slapping a button on her gauntlet as she went. The small, sphere shaped contraption briefly glowed red, before bursting into flames that spread outwards, consuming the substance faster than it could regenerate. The golem went still, animation leaving it as the fire consumed it.

“On the one hand, nice,” Tucker approved, a small smirk manifesting on the robots face. “On the other, could you not have just done that first?”

“Cut me some slack, I literally made that incendiary in mid air. Seriously, we’ve moved so fast I haven’t had the time to make anything else except this kinetic bomb,” Sam argued, waving a small, square package.

“And you’re out of time now, Manson!” an accented voice proclaimed from behind them.

Paulina sauntered out from the wreckage of the settlement behind them, a few golems accompanying her, but otherwise alone. It was quite apt, at least to the two members of Team Phantom, that she didn’t look even slightly out of place in the Psychic Empress get up – a flowing purple dress, slit up one side to reveal a leg, golden armour placed asymmetrically over her body, clearly chosen more for aesthetic purpose than protection. Snaking, glowing tubes wrapped themselves around her arms. Atop her head, she wore the Empress’ crown, a flamboyant, bejewelled affair, with several snakes wrought in silver weaving in and out of it. She looked every inch the vain, cruel tyrant.

Sam gave a sardonic smile, tilting her head towards Tucker whilst not taking her eyes off the tacky A-Lister. “Eh, I’ve heard better villain lines, how about you, Tucker?”

“Four out of ten, not a bad effort from a beginner, but there’s a lot of room for improvement. If I had hands, I’d be making the so-so gesture.” Tucker responded, before idly spinning his rapid ray. “But turning up alone as a specialist character, against a combat character and a jack of all trades? Terrible plan. Sam, you want to do the honours?”

“With pleasure,” Sam declared, pointing her wrists at Paulina, who looked remarkably unperturbed, examining her sharp, lengthy nails while leaning on a large bit of rocket ship debris.

“You know, Manson, I’m a little surprised. You should be on my side.”

“... Come again?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? That ghost _has-been_ ,” she spat, “has gotten my Danny under one of her spells. She’s done it before, and why else would he want to be around her instead of me? I need to get close to break him out of it. That’s what all this is about, after all.”

“You were _this_ close to a logical, if wrong, hypothesis,” Sam deadpanned. “Danny’s not under any kind of mind control.”

“And what makes you think you could break it anyway? Did you become an actual witch without us knowing?” Tucker inquired.

“Well, _obviously_ I can break it, the love interest always can.”

“I don’t know why I thought it would be anything different,” Tucker groaned.

“Played yourself there, Tucker, it was always going to be nonsense.”

“Oh well,” Paulina sighed, before plastering a smug look on her face. “I suppose it was too much to expect of you. It isn’t like you really care for Danny, now, is it, Manson? Isn’t that why you threw what you had away?”

Tucker didn’t even have to look to know Sam’s face was twisted in anger; an expression he knew was mirrored on his own face, if not to the same intensity. Slowly, Sam turned to him.

“Tucker? _Blow her away.”_

“Gladly.”

He levelled the plasma cannon at Paulina and her guards, the blue glow intensifying as it readied itself to fire.

Which would have been much easier to accomplish if a figure wreathed in a pale golden light hadn’t dropped directly in front of the cannon from atop the wreckage, the fiery projectile absorbed on impact in a swirl of blue and gold.

When the effect cleared, a large figure stood there, bedecked in ceremonial, high tech golden armour that covered all but the upper arms. A helmet with enormous horns wrapped the head, leaving only the face free. Gauntlets pulsing blue with the absorbed plasma flexed nervously, mirroring the expression on the wearers.

Kwan, as the Empress’ Golden Guardian, raised his fists.

_Well, that made this more interesting,_ Tucker thought, as he readied to fight in earnest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it’s basically Rainbow 6 Siege crossed with Overwatch, with a retro sci-fi skin.
> 
> I mean, I’d play it.
> 
> Yeah, so, this isn’t what I’d hoped to have out by now. The short version is a cavalcade of nonsense hit my life all at once, in roughly this order:
> 
> 1) I’m still working, so I’ve got to write around that.  
> 2) Many, many friend and family drama’s all hit at once and I had to try to help.  
> 3) Other obligations started making themselves known at the same time.
> 
> So between all of that, I couldn’t write as much as I’d like. I had to decide, do I want to put this whole match and epilogue out in probably another 2-3 weeks, or should I split it a little and put up something in the meantime. As people seem to be finding this entertaining, I opted for the latter. Hope this meets your approval!
> 
> Also yeah, this is the 2nd longest chapter I’ve put out and it’s a little less than a third through what I’ve got planned. I will be less ambitious one day, but it is not this day.
> 
> Thing I’m oddly proud of: Red Amazon of Mars. Just the title, I like the sound of it.


	8. VR Troopers: Mid Game

It hadn’t been too long since Danny had left Ember and Star to their duel, making a beeline for the switch that would activate the second stage of the map. He’d pushed through increasingly cramped and cluttered buildings to reach it – a squat, open collection of stalls and watchtowers, organised into a triangle and newer than the ruins. Well, technically. It was composed of scrap metal and machine parts, all cobbled together in some poor imitations of a trading post, a tower at each of the posts three corners.

If he was right, then the Colonel would be here somewhere, waiting for him to make his approach. He probably wouldn’t risk being out in the open himself, and certainly wouldn’t miss the opportunity to use the switch like a trap.

As was his usual plan in these situations, he decided to spring the trap.

Danny grinned and glowed blue, activating Kaeler’s super speed. He zipped to the side of the nearest scrap watchtower and started climbing. There was the tell-tale crack of the ray sniper as it shot at his after-image, black bolt hitting the metal ground and making it boil. Danny immediately made a leap to his left, landing on a stall and sliding off the top, out of sight of where the shot had come from.

He didn’t stop, weaving through the stalls, dodging the bolts of fire from the unseen Colonel. He pulled his pistol and blew out the back of a stall to his right, briefly drawing fire there whilst he ran across open ground. It bought him a precious few moments to cover half the distance before ray fire rained down on him, impacting the ground around him as he did his best to avoid it.

It was after the fifth bolt zinged past his head on his way to the centre of the market that Danny realised whoever this was really couldn’t shoot properly.

Maybe he just had higher standards than most – his parents... well, OK, his mom was a crack shot, and Valerie was catching up to her fast. Sam and Tucker, although less capable of shooting the wings off an ectofly, were still possessed of a significantly greater ability than most others when handed a weapon. Even Jazz had been doing better, although she and Danny both preferred to keep her in a support role if only to avoid that new marksmanship being used on him by accident. And of course, Danny himself was an excellent shot, at least with his ectoblasts. He had to be, it was either shoot well or get shot a lot of the time.

Granted, he wasn’t making it easy on whoever was playing the Colonel (his money was on Dash, he only took his one shot at Ember when Danny wasn’t available, every other shot was at him). Part of learning to fire ghostly lasers during battle was also learning how to dodge them when they were coming at you. He’d been applying those lessons liberally – irregular movements, zigzagging, occasional use of his super-speed ability to cross a dangerous gap or mess up any tracking.

Still, though, he was making mistakes and he knew it; he’d learned this skill set while having access to a range of abilities he couldn’t use in the game, and muscle memory meant he would freeze in place for a split second trying to fly before his brain caught up and he moved.

And yet, those mistakes weren’t being punished like they should be. If it were any of his friends on the other end of that ray sniper, he would be _very dead_ by now. That he wasn’t meant he could maybe take a few more risks than he normally would.

Danny slammed his back into the side of an elevated walkway – one of three connecting the watchtowers to the switch. The switch, a simple silver cylinder with a big red button, was in the middle of everything. Because of course it was. The walkways, though with at least some cover, all had frequent openings and nothing that would cover all sides. The whole thing was like a sniper’s game of Whack-A-Mole.

Except _this_ sniper didn’t have a good grip on the hammer.

Danny peaked above the walkway and _there_ he was, a flash of light from the scope and a blur of red peaking from a broken window before the crack and the bolt, just slightly wide of the mark of his head as he jinked it. Danny pulled his pistol and fired in the direction of the Colonel’s nest. By no means precise, but they peppered the area and hopefully would stop return fire being aimed properly, as Danny made his mad dash for the middle.

As expected, black bolts zipped through the air at him. He felt one clip his arm and the health bar snaked into his vision – minor damage, but still damage. The azure aura surrounded him again and he leapt, sailing through the air. He landed on the walkway with a clatter, still firing his pistol in the general direction of the sniper’s nest. Before any more shots could be sent his way, his fist slammed down onto the button, which glowed bright blue, lines of energy tracing downwards along the cylinder. He dove forward; taking cover behind the walkway again, angled out of sight of the nest and smirked.

 _Ha! I hope that_ was _Dash, because I want to rub this in his face when we’re done._

Relishing in his moment, Danny began making his way back to Ember, more carefully this time. With any luck, Tucker and Sam were having as simple a time as him.

* * *

“How is this going badly?!” Tucker screamed, his rapid ray spitting red energy balls into the surrounding army of golems. “They should be terrible at this!”

“Just stick to the plan!” Sam shouted back. The silver-suited goth was perched on the back of Tucker’s robot self, frantically piling scrap together and immediately chucking whatever incendiaries she could throw together from it, setting swaths of the surrounding enemies aflame, but always missing her intended target.

The instant Kwan, as the Golden Guardian, made himself known, things turned for the worse. Paulina had hidden herself somewhere amidst the rocket debris when he’d emerged, continually summoning more of the purple armoured things to hurl at Team Phantom. The golems were no more deadly than before, but they provided an effective screen for the real threat.

At random, and never from the same place twice, Kwan would leap, absorb some of the projectiles mid-flight into his gauntlets and pummel Tucker with his own energy. Before either could properly respond, he would duck in amongst the horde, somehow concealing his golden form well enough that he never took significant return fire. The distraction he provided allowed the golems time to use their numbers advantage as well, some finally getting in close enough to deal some damage, and help push their Empress’ enemies back, towards the bottomless pit. And Paulina still hadn’t used her _other_ ability, either.

Tucker was more damaged than he should be against amateurs, down to about a third of his total health and with Sam too distracted making incendiaries to deal with the horde in bulk to make him some ammo, he was running low, and ramming speed probably wasn’t an option against either Kwan or the grey stooges. He detonated the plasma cannon that he had instead of a left arm and took a large chunk of the golems up in blue fire. A satisfying result, but his ammo counter flashed red – 2 more shots of the cannon left.

The remaining plasma warped, concentrating itself instead of dispersing, and Tucker knew what that meant. From out of the flames, a gold armoured figure emerged, right fist held back as he charged the duo’s position. Already facing that direction, Tucker span his rapid ray up and fired, red energy balls crashing into the surrounding debris and grey clay of the minions. Kwan, however, was too nimble, dodging left and right to avoid the brunt of the fire like he was on the football pitch, avoiding members of the opposing team. He took some shots, it was unavoidable with the wider fire of the spinning raygun, but it was minimal, probably a small dent in his overall health.

Kwan leapt, and brought his fist forward, crashing into the robotic torso, metal screeching as it bent inwards from the discharged energy. Tucker reeled back, and swung himself around, hoping to catch the armoured A-Lister with the back of his cannon, but he’d jumped backwards, losing himself in the oncoming purple army again.

“I can take maybe 2 more of those before I’m toast! Sam, you better have a different plan, because I am _not_ going out to Kwan or Paulina’s minions!”

“What’s the difference between those?”

“Less sass, more winning!”

“Fine! Get right up next to the edge of the pit, then!”

Tucker didn’t bother protesting – both he and Danny had learned a long time ago, listening to Sam was usually the quickest path out of whatever mess they’d gotten themselves into. An addendum they both privately agreed to was that this only applied if they were already in a mess – otherwise, it tends to _create_ a mess. Manson’s Law. Neither had yet had the courage to bring it up to her directly.

Tucker retreated backwards as Sam leapt off his back and went towards the edge herself. He heard her drop _something_ on the way there, but he was rather too preoccupied with keeping the horde off their backs to be sure what. Faith in Manson’s Law prevailed.

 _When I’m done here, I’m finding whoever romanticised ‘fighting with your back against the wall’ in the Ghost Zone and I’m reverse haunting them,_ Tucker vowed, as his rapid ray spat, the golems melting and crumbling under the sustained fire.

And then, from the corner of his eye (sensors. Whatever), Tucker spotted a flash of gold. To the left and moving fast.

“Sam, incoming!”

Tucker didn’t wait for a response as he fired the plasma cannon, a burst of blue heat erupting from the ground where the energy struck. The armoured Kwan sprinted around it, sticking a hand into the lingering blast as his gauntlet absorbed it, yanking it out precisely as it reached maximum charge. How the jock had managed to master exactly how much power those things could absorb before overloading was kind of baffling. His public persona didn’t scream quick study.

Kwan didn’t bother getting out of the way of the rapid rays fire this time, throwing up a shield and letting his stolen power absorb the hits. Tucker realised he must be banking on having enough power left to just knock him into the pit and deal with him that way. He couldn’t beat Sam the same way, but if Paulina could hit her with the 6 second mind control she had…

 _Wow, they actually planned this,_ Tucker thought, impressed.

He was also maybe, perhaps, just a tiny bit terrified. You’d think flying with Danny, occasional solo jaunts with the Fenton jetpack or heck, visiting the Ghost Zone on semi-regular basis, would make the fear of heights vanish somehow, but alas. Thankfully, he had plenty to occupy his attention on solid ground.

He felt his shoulder lurch slightly as Sam dropped back onto it, muttering under her breath as Kwan got closer and closer.

“3… 2… aaaaaaaand boom!” Sam shouted, pushing a glowing button on her gauntlet.

The air around Kwan’s feet bulged and distorted, rippling outwards with astonishing speed. The charging A-Lister had only enough time for the shock to register on his face before he was lifted up and forwards, the blast hurling him over the heads of Team Phantom into the pit, an echoing shout the only response he could muster before he vanished. Tucker stared after him, any danger from the nearby golems forgotten in the shock.

“What was that?!” Tucker eventually exclaimed, gesturing vaguely with one of his gun arms.

Sam grinned triumphantly. “Kinetic bomb! Predicted where he’d be coming from to knock you into the pit and dropped it when we ran back. And the forums said it was useless, ha! Tell that to the gold goon in the void, you bunch of trolls!”

“… Did you plan to do something like this just to spite anonymous internet tryhards? Is that why you built the thing first?”

“… Oh hey, we still need to deal with Paulina, let’s go do that and not think too much about my motivations!” Sam rapidly reeled off, gesturing vaguely ahead of them. “Uh, actually, speaking of, what?”

It didn’t take too long for the war droid to realise what she was confused about – the small army of golems that had previously been mindlessly marching towards them had just… stopped. They held stock still, their faces turned to face the pair, but otherwise motionless. Their previously mindless cries had silenced.

“This is really, really creepy, and we’ve spent more than a year fighting off the living dead,” Tucker remarked.

“That makes it sound way grimmer than it actually was. Unless you’ve suddenly developed a fear of Klemper,” Sam deadpanned. “Still, uh, yeah. Weird.”

“Hmph. Typical,” the accented voice of Team Phantom’s least favourite person, at least currently on the planet, bounced off the surrounding debris. It sounded close, but neither could pin down where it was coming from. “I suppose I can’t blame Kwan – even my ghost boy can’t stop you pushing people away, can he, Manson?”

And now Sam _really wanted_ to pin down where it was coming from.

“Hey, _Sanchez_ ,” Tucker bit back. “You wanna shut up about things you don’t know about?”

Nobody gets to talk to his friends like that while he’s there and also a tank. Somehow he doubted Paulina would care about why it had happened, or all the times he’d stayed up with Sam, trying to talk her through the doubt and self-loathing after she’d broken up with Danny, but it was the principle of the thing.

“What’s to know? Oh, boohoo, your _precious integrity_ ,” the echo mocked as the pair scanned the area and the eerily still army. Tucker’s plasma cannon whined – he had one shot left, and he intended to use it on the girl who’d apparently decided to take her role as villain seriously. “I mean, I knew it wouldn’t last – you’re too stuck up for anyone to meet your standards for long.”

“There,” Tucker muttered to his partner, gesturing over to one of the larger chunks of debris. A small swish of purple flicked out from behind the edge of it. “Play it cool, don’t just rush. I think the cooldowns come off the- “

“Face it, for all the times you’ve called me shallow and selfish, you’re no better! You’re just pretentious about it!”

Tucker winced and glanced at Sam. She was as motionless as the golems, frozen in place and she looked… calm. Eye of the storm calm.

“Say Tucker,” Sam said, voice flat and devoid of emotion. “I’m gonna go put Paulina in the thermos now.”

“Uh, it won’t work on her. She’s not a ghost, Sam.”

“ _I can fix that.”_

With a sudden scream, Sam ignited her jetpack and rocketed forward as fast as the device could manage, hurtling towards the debris, Tucker calling after her futilely. She rounded the corner, silver streaks erupting from her gauntlets as she did so. The man-bot sighed, revving up his treads to follow her. Maybe the A-Lister masquerading as an evil queen was just bluff-

There was a deafening roar and a sound like a concrete block being split apart. Sam flew backwards, crashing hard into a rock just on the edge of the pit, her avatar flickering and shaking like a TV with a bad signal. She tried to struggle to her feet, her face writ with determination and fury, only to collapse, her body dissipating into a thousand tiny voxels as the last of her health gave out and she was removed from the game.

Another of the large, gorilla-like golems turned round the corner, howling in triumph, before turning its head to face Tucker. It bellowed and began lumbering swiftly towards him, all scrabbling claws and grey muscle heaving its mass forward. Tucker’s stunned expression vanished, replaced by panic as he raised the plasma cannon and fired. The flaming blue ball slammed into the chest of the gorilla golem, burning a hole through the centre of the purple plate armour, and through the middle of the beast itself. The golem swayed and teetered, but didn’t fall.

Which let Tucker see the figure of Paulina through the hole in the beast, triumphant smile on her face, dress flickering in the wind and her arm raised. The snaking purple tubes around her arm flared with bright violet light, as did her eyes. With the Empress’ screech, the purple light shot forth at blazing speed, striking the head of the battle robot. And in his mind, Tucker heard a little voice that he couldn’t say no to…

_Reverse off the cliff…_

As Tucker felt his treads move against his will, and his body tip backwards, only one thought pierced the fear of dropping:

 _I still think I should be immune to the mind control. I’m a robot!_ He groused internally, as the black void claimed him.

* * *

Paulina watched as the combat droid rolled backwards, no expression on its metal face and smirked. Tricking Manson was as easy as she’d hoped it would be – no matter how much better than Paulina she thought she was, she wore all her insecurities on her sleeve. And Foley? Well, that was luck, she’d admit. But what good action-romance arc didn’t have at least a little of that?

And she’d even picked a pacifist character! She didn’t have any weapons, just some loyal followers (which she should have) and some mind control (which she _did_ have. On men, anyway. And some women). She was clearly in the moral high ground, if trying to save Danny didn’t put her there!

She held her arms straight out at her sides and commanded her lovely little minions to carry her. She still had to push a button. Or something. Paulina didn’t really care that much about the game, beyond what Kwan told her she’d need to know to win. But it would make Danny come to her, so she had to do it, so she could free him.

“This time I get to save you…” she murmured under her breath as the golems carried her across the bridge.

* * *

Ember’s laughter rang out as the deep red blade of her axe cleaved through a flying piece of debris.

“This is the best fight I’ve had in like a _year,_ ” she cackled, bloodthirsty grin on her face as she ducked underneath the screaming yellow arc as it flew above her head, and swung her axe horizontally, the whip-wielding space pirate leaping backwards with as much grace as was possible. The blonde outlaw responded with a giddy smile, bouncing on her feet a little.

“Eeeeee, me too! I mean, I don’t get in them as often as you do, so that was always going to be true, but still!” she enthused, her arm slashing downwards, bringing her energy whip to bear on the ground in front her, Ember dashing to the side to avoid it. It lashed right like a glowing snake, shearing off another chunk of machinery from one of the many around. With a flick, the whip hurled the chunk at Ember.

The ghost girl ducked under it – having learned at a cost to her health bar that she didn’t have her ghost abilities in here – and ran forward, axe low to ground, the edge of it scraping the floor. Ember swung her arm around, trying to catch the whip around her forearm. The armour of the Red Amazon was as resistant to the energy whip as her axe had been, although she wasn’t looking forward to testing prolonged contact.

Evidently neither was Star, as she jerked the whip back from its strike, turning the motion into a smooth backflip away from Ember and behind an archaic looking tape computer. Both girls paused for a moment, catching their breath.

“Y’know, you’re a _way_ better fighter than I thought you’d be,” Ember smirked at the puffing blonde. “How are you doing half of this?”

“Cheerleading!” Star responded, beaming. “People think it’s just shouting and looking pretty, but I have to do a lot of stunts! Especially since Paulina’s too afraid of hurting herself to do them a lot of the time.”

“No shock there, the pink pest is a coward. Why do you hang out with her? I’ve known the pair of you like 4 minutes each and I’m not sure how you stand her.”

Star’s happy look faltered, just a little. “It’s… complicated. Difficult to notice when a friend changes slowly, you know?”

Ember shrugged, the armour clanking as she did. “Can’t say I do. Never had more than two. One and a half, really.”

The pirate adopted a puzzled expression. “What about Danny and the others?”

“Also complicated. We’re probably not friends, though. Just… not enemies.”

“Oh.” Star let the silence linger a little, before grinning broadly. “Wanna forget social mumbo-jumbo and get back to knocking each other around?”

“ _Please.”_

Ember darted forward, slapping her free hand on the machinery between her and Star to vault over it, swinging her axe wildly at her opponent’s head as she did. Star yipped in surprise and ducked, pushing herself backwards away from the hungry red metal. The whip flared as she returned the favour, the coiling energy snaking towards the ghost girls head. The axe swung back, batting the yellow arc aside as Ember brought her fist to the underside of Star’s jaw. The pirate turned the momentum from the uppercut into a spin, her boot lashing out to catch the side of Ember’s head.

She staggered sideways and laughed. The last ten minutes had gone like this, Ember’s armour and greater experience stymied by the blonde’s agility and range. They’d each get in minor knocks here, a graze with a weapon there, but neither could get a definitive advantage. It was…

It was _fun._ She hadn’t had this kind of fun in ages. Star was a challenge without her ghost powers, and even if Ember wouldn’t say it out loud, surprisingly good company for someone baby pop described as part of the popular jerks, at least in what they’d talked about between attempts to kill each other. How long had it been since she’d done anything like this, just competing with someone for the fun of it, no stakes, just a good time?

“Way too long…” she muttered to herself, smirking.

“What?” Star asked, as she slashed the whip across the air, Ember ducking under it, but not moving from that spot.

“Nothing. Was just thinking, I can see why the dipstick thinks you’re cool,” Ember remarked. Star gave a delighted gasp, forgetting the fight for a moment.

“He said that?! I didn’t think he noticed me trying! Did he say anything else?”

“Not much, just that you were OK in his book. Maybe talk to him after this?”

Star nodded vigorously, mind still elsewhere. Ember felt a little bad she was about to exploit what seemed to be good news to the pirate, a lapse in behaviour the origin of which she couldn’t quite trace and did her best to ignore.

Still. She was Ember McLain, and she was gonna _win._

Ember’s forearms clanged together, and her armour whined as the energy lines blazed a bright blue. Jae’Alor’s charge ability was _supposed_ to be used for breaking through walls, but she had a suspicion that ramming into a human with enough force to shatter concrete would be bad news for Star, who she was reasonably certain was not more resilient than a wall.

Blue lines streaked behind her as Ember shot forward, her armour propelling her straight at Star, whose expression shifted from joy to wide-eyed surprise before Ember slammed into her, the armour around her middle cracking from the impact. The pair crashed into the wall, and Star dropped to her knees, avatar flickering and wheezing.

Ember raised her axe high, before pausing. “Sorry. But I’m not losing.” Star stared back up, unable to properly form words with the air knocked from her and smiled, shakily. Ember nodded appreciatively, before the axe came down, the blade impacting squarely on her neck as Star collapsed into a dozen tiny bright cubes and was eliminated.

Ember wiped her brow and breathed, only to spin around at the sound of clapping. She relaxed, if barely, as Danny stood there giving her an ovation.

“Enjoy the show, baby pop? Didn’t think to, I dunno, _help?”_ Ember snarked at the jumpsuited boy, who just grinned back at her.

“Why ruin the fun? You three seemed to be enjoying yourselves”

“… Three?”

“Yeah, you, Star and Andre.”

Ember barked out a laugh. “Aw, that’s sweet! You hear that Andre?” she said to the axe, cradling it like a child. “Papa finally acknowledges you!”

“Wait, _I’m_ the father?! Ember, what happened at the last Christmas truce? Why didn’t you tell me we had such a sharp child?” Danny cried out in mock anguish.

“I was only thinking of your future, I prom- “she began, only to stop as she was thrown to the side violently, a hand snapping out to steady herself. The ground shook and tremored, the rubble of Ember’s battle with Star sprang into the air at random and the walls…

Cracked.

Danny glowed blue and rushed forward, snatching Ember by the shoulders and racing for the nearest window as the ceiling crumbled. Wrapping his arms around her, Danny leapt, carrying the both of them through the window as the building began caving in on itself in earnest, dust and debris spilling out. They landed hard, smacking into the ground and rolling, coming to a stop a few feet away. They stayed prone for a while, waiting for the earthquake to stop.

When it finally did, Ember looked up at Danny, a sardonic grin alighting her face.

“… dipstick? You can let go now.”

“… Right! Sorry!” Danny yelled, untangling himself and rocketing to his feet with almost indecent haste. He affixed his eyes to the horizon, partially to avoid having to look at Ember, but mostly because of what was rising there.

A smooth, polished metal structure climbed into view, stretching to the sky. Made of the same blue-black materials as the Celestial Engine itself, it shimmered and shone, points of light shifting around it in random patterns, chasing each other across the height of the construction. Ember dusted herself off as she rose, staring with Danny.

“Is that…?”

“The Celestial Engine’s control room. Also known as stage two,” he replied, drawing his pistol and grinning at her. “Think you’re ready for it?”

She span her axe and returned a feral smile. “ _Always_. Lead on, Phantom!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guess whose computer fritzed out and lost 9k words!
> 
> Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
> 
> I’ve challenged myself to not swear writing this fic and nothing has tested me more than that.
> 
> As a result of having to rewrite this, I’m giving up on finishing this mini arc in one bounce, and probably going to abandon my rigid notion of finishing them all in three parts as well. C’est la vie, take the knocks, get better and move forward!
> 
> Anyway, little bit of trivia, my day job is a game designer, and I’ve often thought/paper designed a Danny Phantom game, more the structure and plot than mechanics (intangibility is a gameplay nightmare). It combines elements of the Arkham games, namely their style of combat but with more ghostly elements and tendency to feature all of the rogues gallery as bosses of one stripe or another, and Mass Effect, mostly the conversation choices and romance paths because I remain shipping trash no matter what I work on.
> 
> I’ll chuck out more details in the next note unless people object.


	9. VR Troopers: Dungeons and Delusions

“ _How?”_ Sam groaned for the umpteenth time; her head buried in her hands.

“Uh, you got smacked by a gigantic gorilla. That’s usually fatal,” Tucker replied, eyebrow raised.

“Not _that!_ How did we get beaten by _Paulina?!”_ Sam raged, her hands grasping her hair in frustration.

As soon as they’d been knocked out of the match and woken up, Sam and Tucker had been ushered by the staff of the arcade into the backroom area, Sam walking almost in a daze as if she couldn’t quite believe she was here. When they’d arrived, they’d both sunk into a couch in front of a TV displaying the match. Currently it just showed Danny and Ember travelling the streets, keeping up a conversation.

“Kwan was there as well. Did pretty well, too,” Tucker pointed out mildly, taking a bite of his sandwich – the arcade always set out a little food for big matches, and he was trying to take comfort in meat. Meat wouldn’t mind control him. Probably.

_Note to self, do not mention this to the Lunch Lady._

“But he didn’t _beat us._ How did she do it? She’s an idiot! An idiot with no experience at the game!”

Tucker sighed. “Because she wasn’t playing the game, Sam. She was trying to play _you._ ”

At Sam’s look of angry curiosity, an expression Tucker reflected was nearly unique to her, he continued. “About the only thing she can do well is manipulate people. Of course she was gonna try to talk us into doing something stupid, that’s like, half of all she does at school besides chase Danny now. She only went for you because she knows how to push your buttons.”

“Great,” Sam spat harshly. “So, we lost because of me?”

“Nah. We lost because we weren’t taking them seriously. Like, come on, who’d really think Casper High’s most notorious airheaded jerk was capable of thinking of a _one-_ step plan, never mind a two-step one,” Tucker finished, smirking at Sam and hoping to pull a laugh from her.

Instead she just slumped her head onto her hands with a muttered “I guess.” The beret’d boy frowned, and gently nudged his friend.

“Hey. You know nothing she said about you was true, right? She hates you, of course she’s gonna insult you.”

“Doesn’t mean she was wrong, though,” Sam sighed, before throwing up her hands as Tucker opened his mouth. “I know, I know, I broke up with Danny when I realised I might not be there for the right reasons, we’re still friends, I get it. It doesn’t stop me wondering if I’m just a huge hypocrite…”

As she trailed off, she felt Tucker sling his free arm around her shoulders, squeezing her in a side hug. “You’re not. And you’ll figure it out, I’m sure. Until then, don’t let Paulina of all people tell you how to feel,” he said, firmly.

Sam smiled, a little. “Yeah… yeah, you’re right. Forget her, anyway! How’re Danny and Ember doing, I want to see Paulina beat by at least one of them!”

“That’s the spirit! … Oh, hey, looks like the golems caught up with them, they’re fighting.” Sam glanced at the screen, and sure enough, both were both ploughing through waves of the purple armoured minions. “Team chat or commentary?”

“Team chat,” Sam said. “I can see them talking, I want to know what their plan is.”

Tucker nodded and fumbled with the remote a little. Once Tucker found the correct combination of buttons, the TV suddenly blared with the voices of their teammates.

_“Make your parents proud, Andre!”_

_“You’ll never stop us or our sharp, spikey son!”_

“… what.”

* * *

Danny’s pistol spat a tall, thin bolt of energy, tearing through the minion in front of him and travelling through to the one behind it. Even as the bolt sailed through the air, he turned and threw his foot forward, booting another in the chest and knocking it into its fellows, bowling them all over. It left them easy prey for an overhead smash from Ember, who cleaved them all in two in one stroke.

Ember’s armour whined, and she rammed through the horde, crushing any she hit directly and knocking the rest to the side. Danny glowed blue and rushed forward into the survivors, throwing punches at superspeed that demolished the golems they hit. As Ember chopped and carved with her axe/child through the bulk of the horde, the monsters bursting into clay with every swing and cackle. Danny’s pistol dealt swiftly with any attempt at flanking, destroying anything incoming in a single shot.

Was this supposed to slow them down or something? Was that the plan? Because it really wasn’t working.

If anything, this was probably faster. They’d gotten caught up in the whole co-parents bit before they’d gotten halfway to the control room, amusing each other with increasingly ridiculous soap opera antics. Danny’s personal favourite being that Ember had “cheated” on him with Fright Knight, and _he_ might be Andre’s father. Having to plough through a horde of enemies had made them take this somewhat seriously, or at least turn on abilities that made them move faster.

It certainly didn’t stop them keeping up their ludicrousness.

“So, have you given any thought to Andre’s future?” Danny threw out in-between pistol blasts. “I know he’s young, but you can never prepare too soon!”

Ember beheaded 2 golems in rapid succession and turned back to him, frowning thoughtfully. “Nah. Obviously he can be anything he wants- “She paused and lashed out with the butt of the axe before bringing it down on the hapless purple solider. “But I figure he’ll find something he wants to do as he gets older. I think he might want to be an actor!”

“What!” Danny exclaimed, outraged, as he flung his hand backwards, smashing in the face of a golem trying to be sneaky. “No son of mine is wasting his life in Hollywood! I meant what role is he going to play in the family ghost hunting business!”

Ember tried, extremely hard, to not laugh at Danny’s near perfect impression of his own dad and failed. “But what if he… he… heheheheheheHA! Darn it, fine, you win!”

Danny pumped his fist and whooped, before loosing a pair of blasts at some golem’s oncoming through an alley, ripping them to pieces. “Yes! Victory is mine! What do I win?”

“The pleasure of watching me bisect the pest! You said these things are hers, right?” Ember shouted over the mindless roar of the swarm, which had renewed and intensified their mindless screeching, which only caused Ember to start hitting harder to shut them up.

“Almost certainly! I can’t see Dash in a purple dress… I mean, _now_ I can, and I really wish I couldn’t,” Danny grimaced. “He would _not_ pull the look off. I just hope Tucker and Sam at least got one of them – 2 on 3 are not odds I like!”

“You can’t tell on the thingy?” Ember queried, ducking as a few stray bolts from her teammates pistol flew close to her head to start thinning the main horde. “And watch where you’re shooting!”

“Sorry! No, the HUD only let us see our own teammates and their status and… is the ground quaking again?”

They both felt it through their feet as they paused briefly – a steady thudding in the ground, sending vibrations up their legs. The lights running through the metal of the floor flared and juddered with each impact, until a great clawed hand appeared at the corner of a building, heaving a vast, grey mass with violet armour sunken into its clay like flesh. It had patched itself up recently, it’s chest plate hastily affixed with scrap, clay still flowing and writhing beneath it as it repaired the damage. The gorilla golem spotted them and bared its jaws, letting out a strangled roar.

“… M’kay,” Danny deadpanned. “Guess we have to deal with this now.”

“Now _that_ is Andre’s future! Fighting _big things!_ Dibs on the knees!” Ember whooped.

Before Danny could utter a word, Ember ran forward, carving a path in whatever was in-between her and the gigantic clay golem, crimson axe destroying anything it came across. The Commonwealth Hero just sighed, before grinning and dashing after her, reloading as he went and kicking any downed golems struggling to rise.

Ember accelerated her already swift charge, the armour screeching as she picked up to ramming speed. She impacted heavily with the things knee as it scrabbled to meet her, the gorilla golem giving a roar of pain and dropping on its leg heavily. Ember swung hard, and buried the axe in its chest, eliciting a further shriek. It swiped violently with its paw, crashing into Ember’s side and launching her sideways, sparks dancing from her armour as the claws collided. She skidded to a halt, barely remaining on her feet, and turned back to the beast with a snarl, only to see a blue streak leap onto its arm and rush upwards.

As the glow faded, Danny balanced precariously on the golem’s shoulder, his hand latching onto the clay of its neck and digging in. He jammed his pistol to the side of its head, and fired repeatedly, blast after blast vaporising grey matter. The beast swayed, and toppled to the ground, Danny stumbling as he jumped from it but remaining up.

Ember glared at him and opened her mouth.

* * *

“That still only counts as one!” Tucker quipped, drowning out the blue haired girl’s response from the TV. Sam smiled, slightly, then frowned.

“Why are they holding back?” she mused, looking at Danny and Ember started crashing into the horde again. Tucker sputtered in disbelief.

“You call that holding back? The only way they could be wrecking them anymore was if they could use ghost powers!”

“Not them, Paulina and Dash. Look at how many of the minions there are – we fought like three times that, and they’re in a more confined street. Numbers might manage to overwhelm them there, plus Dash shooting at them? Definitely a hard time. So, what’re they doing?”

Tucker paused, thinking it over. “Normally I’d say you’re over-thinking it, but- “

“We’re sat here?” Sam snarked. Tucker nodded.

“Pretty much. OK, so we know Paulina’s goal at least isn’t to win, it’s to get near to Danny and break the non-existent mind control, right? So maybe the plan is separate them somehow using the other golems. She’s gotta want Ember gone or at least further away if she thinks she’s the source of it.”

“… this is so unbelievably pathetic,” Sam muttered, slapping her palm to her forehead. “How does she think this is going to go? Flutter her eyelashes and Danny’s going to spontaneously forget the clue he got halfway through freshman year and suddenly decide she’s worth his time?”

“In fairness, when has that not worked for her before? It’d work on me,” Tucker replied, flinching under his friends glare. “What?! It wouldn’t work for long! I’m just saying,” he finished with a lecherous expression.

The door to the backroom area opened before Sam could properly castigate him for his terrible, terrible choices and a blonde blur rushed in, stopping in front of the TV.

“Did I miss anything good?!” Star exclaimed breathlessly, as Kwan slunk in almost unnoticed behind her, avoiding eye contact with either Team Phantom or his… friend? Girlfriend? Person he was around a lot because they ran in the same circles? Neither Tucker nor Sam had bothered keeping up to date on the exact relationship there. In any case, he absorbed himself in the food whilst Star was seemingly too excited to remember she was supposed to be enemies with these two.

“Uh, I guess Danny shooting the head off the big one after Ember toppled it was pretty cool?” Tucker threw out hesitantly, shrugging his shoulders as Sam gave him a look. “What, she asked.”

“Yeah, well, don’t just hand information to the enemy! What if she’s got a way of talking to Paulina?”

“As if I’d use it,” Star responded, distracted by the pair on the TV. “I’ve been wanting to try out this place for months, and when I finally get Paulie to agree to it, it’s so she can chase Danny some more? No thanks! She can lose for all I care!”

“You… aren’t here to help her snare Danny?” Sam asked, incredulous.

“Heck no! He’s already told her he’s not interested, that should be that. But no, nothing stops Paulie when she wants something,” Star vehemently replied, finally turning to face the couch, bitterness creeping into her tone. “About the only good thing to come out of it is she’s been too distracted to mess with anyone else much, but that doesn’t excuse the harassment!”

Sam and Tucker looked at each other, Sam looking like the world had turned upside down, whereas Tucker was just mildly shocked.

“Star, are you… OK?” Tucker spoke up, concern and sarcasm mixed liberally in his voice. “Not exactly what we’d expect from Paulina’s loyal satellite.” She smiled somewhat sadly in response.

“We don’t talk, and a lot can change in a year, Foley.”

“Care to explain that?” Sam inquired; eyebrow raised. Long experience with Star and other social parasites like her made her not quite believe everything she was hearing, but… it didn’t _sound_ like a lie.

“I will when Danny gets here. I want him to hear something. Until then, budge up, I wanna watch Ember wreck them!”

“Them who?” Tucker asked, shuffling along and patting the seat next to him. No sense passing up an opportunity to sit next to a hot girl, after all. Then he looked at the screen. “Oh, snap!”

* * *

_Three seconds,_ Danny griped in his head. _We get separated for three seconds and this happens._

Almost immediately after he dismounted from the large, now headless body, Ember had called him out for stealing Andre’s first giant kill and stormed ahead. He couldn’t tell if she were actually angry with him or if this were part of the same act as before, which… he’d be lying if he said it didn’t worry him a little. Regardless of how well they’d been getting on, some part of his mind (growing smaller the more they hung out, but still persistent) reminded him that she was an immensely dangerous person – for all she didn’t find any fulfilment in her plans for conquest, she’d come closer than most others to beating him when they’d fought and provoking her was probably unwise.

He decided to hang back a little and let her work off some steam on the golems instead of his face. Andre didn’t need to see his parents fighting.

Then everything went wrong.

When Ember fought her way to an intersection, the distinctive crack and black bolt of Dash’s ray sniper rang out, crashing hard against her armour. She stumbled, snarling in the direction of the bolt, as far more golems than they’d fought previously flowed from the side streets into the intersection, flooding the space between her and Danny with more speed than he thought the mindless brutes capable of.

His pistol spat into the horde, thinning the bulk of them in front of him in an effort to reunite with Ember, but it made little difference to the overwhelming numbers and he quickly found himself surrounded. He thought he could hear Ember hollering and fighting, but between the howling of the swarm and the rhythmic crack of the sniper and his own gun, he couldn’t be sure. He couldn’t devote too much time to that, though – if they had these numbers before, why would they hold them back? He knew he was good at this, and Ember had taken to the axe like a duck to water, but they couldn’t have fought all-

_Oh, hey, axe is slang for guitar! Maybe that’s why I thought of her when – FOCUS, FENTON._

He shook his head and kept blasting in all directions until the gun clicked empty. Glowing blue, he dashed forward, punching and kicking anything in his path at immense speed, carving his way through. He _had_ to link back up with Ember, together they might be able to fight their way through this to the control room, but-

The glow faded, and Danny returned to normal speed, still surrounded by the minions. For every one or two he was able to pummel into mush, 3 more arrived to take its place. Oh no, he was _not_ going to lose to Paulina and Dash of all people, there _has_ to be a way out of this, there was no way-

Wait, why weren’t they attacking him?

They were crowding him, trying to grab him, but not one of them was attacking him. His health bar hadn’t even blipped once. He elbowed a golem behind him trying to latch onto his arm and tried to reload his pistol before another got a hold of both his shoulders, then his arms and finally forced him to the ground, pinned under their collective weight and he lost all track of how anything was going, struggling to be free. The horde split in front of him and _there_ was Paulina, her hand placed against his forehead and her eyes glowing a vivid purple.

_Sleep_ was all Danny heard before he passed out.

* * *

Tucker rolled his eyes as Star and Sam both erupted into boo’s and got up off the couch. Paulina was pulling a Plasmius. That didn’t go well for him any time he tried it, and he had actual brains instead of relying on being underestimated and surprise. And who knew what Dash was up to because it sure wasn’t trying to win, not with shooting like that. Why he went with a sniper instead of a melee fighter like Kwan did, he had no idea.

And speaking of Kwan, Tucker wandered over to the food table and away from the still outraged pair, temporarily united in their desire to see Ember slice her way through an army of purple minions and the Empress. The jock was still there, as uncomfortable as he had seemed on stage, picking at some food and studiously ignoring Tucker as he grabbed some chips. After a while, Tucker casually spoke up.

“So, how’s the neural net going?”

Kwan flinched, and whipped his head around automatically. Star was still too engrossed in watching the TV to pay attention to them, and he relaxed, minutely.

“Um… not too bad,” he replied, quietly. “Haven’t had much time to work on it, between football practice and A-List stuff. N-not that you’d know anything about that, dweeb,” he babbled, slipping into more familiar interactions with the beret’d tech guru. Tucker just rolled his eyes a little.

“Yeah, being mayor and sideki- _partner_ to the local superhero means I’ve got no idea about being busy,” he snarked. He munches on a few chips before chiming in again. “You know, if you didn’t want to keep that you actually enjoy programming a secret, I could get you some help with the AI.”

“No way!” Kwan hisses. “I can’t get caught touching that stuff! I’d get kicked off the team, you know that!”

“And that matters?”

“It’s all I’ve got!”

Tucker looked straight at Kwan, not even trying to hide the pity there before shrugging. “If you say so. Offer’s always open, dude.”

He returned to the couch, offering the bowl of chips he’d grabbed to the two girls. Poor Kwan, he mused. Too afraid of losing what he had to do what he’d like to. Oh well, Tucker shrugged. Can’t help someone who won’t help themselves.

“Miss anything?” he asked Sam. She shook her head.

“Nah, just Ember ripping through the golems some more and chasing Danny, and Danny getting dragged into the control room.”

“Oooo, switch over to that!” Star demanded. “I wanna see Paulie’s face when Danny shoots her down _again!”_

Sam looked at the blonde with something almost close to approval before chucking Tucker the remote. A couple of button presses brought up the view from within the control room.

“Oh, good timing, I think he’s waking up!”

* * *

Danny’s eyes snapped open with a start and he grunted with the strain. The developers hadn’t properly programmed sleep into the game, so it was more of an on-off switch for his brain that felt _really_ jarring when it wore off. Thankfully, there were only two characters that can induce it, but just his luck to fight one who can. He tried to rub his eyes but found he couldn’t move his hands from behind his back. Something had tied them together. He shook his head, shaking off some of the disorientation, and looked around.

He was in the tower, that much he could tell – the walls pulsed in blue light across walls that stretched higher than his eye could see, the ceiling, if there even was one, lost in darkness as it kept going up. Danny looked down – the same blue-black metal with occasional dancing lights. A platform of some kind. To the left – behind him was the edge of a ramp leading downwards. So, if he remembered the map rightly, he was on the raised portion of the control room, where you might go to get a commanding view of the entire floorplan at the risk of leaving yourself vulnerable.

Or, of course, where you’d go if you were feeling particularly dramatic and wanted the closest thing to a stage.

Reluctantly, Danny levelled his head to look directly ahead of him, past the motionless golems flanking them, at the purple dress and far too smug face of the queen bee of Casper High as she leaned against the wall.

“Danny, darling!” she simpered. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now.”

“Safe. Right,” he deadpanned, experimentally twisting his wrists. He could probably work free of this given enough time. Which would mean he’d need to keep Paulina talking if he wanted to avoid being blasted.

Or he’d need to be blasted to avoid hearing Paulina talk. It was 50/50 which he’d prefer.

“Well?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“… Well what? Are you expecting me to beg or something? I don’t even do that for my actual bad guys, never mind VR ones.”

“No, you should be thanking me,” Paulina huffed, a puzzled frown creasing her features. “This isn’t how it goes. You’re supposed to be back to normal and melting at the sight of me!”

Danny shrugged, concealing his struggle with the wrist bindings. “I mean, I’m impressed you guys are doing this well. Shows us for underestimating you, you actually had a pretty solid plan. But that’s really not enough to get me to suddenly go gooey over you.”

“Not that! The spell!” she whined. “Being near your true love ought to have broken it!”

“Are you still on this? Never mind, stupid question, of course you are. You’re not my ‘true love’, you absolute _airhead_. And what spell, anyway?” Danny asked, bewildered. “Is Amity Park infested with witches now? Because if so, I’m officially calling quits on this superhero thing and leaving anti-witch duty to Sam. I wouldn’t like life as a toad. Too slimy.”

He thoroughly enjoyed the look on her face as he rambled. Something he’d figured out the few times she managed to corner him into a conversation was that she had some real trouble reconciling the delusional image she had of him with his rejections. The perfect romantic ghost boy in her head also probably wouldn’t start babbling about witches, either. After a few moments of internal conflict, Paulina settled on an interpretation she could live with.

“Darn it. I guess that ghost throwback’s power is stronger than I thought.”

“Throw - Wait, you mean Ember? You think she’s…” Danny started, before bursting into laughter. “Are you _kidding me?_ This is why you did all this nonsense?”

“Hey!” Paulina pouted. This wasn’t going how she thought it would. “Of course you’re under her spell! There’s no other reason you’d invite her to this instead of me! Especially when I made sure you’d have no other choice!”

“Paulina, Ember _can’t hypnotise me._ The one time she managed it was when she had a _massive_ power boost. I’m immune otherwise,” Danny asserted, as a thought struck him. His goggles lit up as he spoke, checking on the ghost girl in question. Danny had to restrain a grin as he saw where she was.

“And if you wanna know why her instead of you? Easy. I- “he stopped, abruptly, as the realisation of why crossed his mind. “I like her,” he said, simply. “She’s fun to be around.”

“No, no, no, no, no, NO!” Paulina screamed. Danny rolled his eyes and focused on his wrists. He was nearly free, just a couple more seconds... “That’s not how this is supposed to go! This is the part where I get to save you from a woman trying to steal you from me! You’re not supposed to like her! _I’m_ supposed to be the love interest in this story, you’re supposed to fall in love with _me!_ I won’t let some cut-rate Catwoman come between us!”

Danny paused his struggle and decided he couldn’t resist. “You _do_ know Batman and Catwoman are married in the comics now, right?”

“… what?”

“I mean, it’s pretty recent and who knows if it’ll last, but, uh, that may have been a bad comparison.”

“But our story- “

“Oh, for the love of all that’s holy, unholy and Swiss, would you _knock that off?!”_ Danny snapped, finally letting his irritation with this shallow imbecile show full force. “That’s not how anything works! We’re not _destined_ to be together. I can barely stand the sight of you, you sunk that ship yourself! And you can’t just decide your life is a cliché superhero romanc- “He stopped, then smirked. “Actually, no, you know what? Let’s _talk_ cliché romance scenarios!”

Any hope Paulina had at that died as he kept talking. “Look at the situation you’ve made here! You tried to make people too afraid to join us so you could get a place on our team! When that didn’t work, you kidnapped me with your hordes of disposable minions, whilst dressed as and acting like the villain! You’ve tied me up and more or less _ordered_ that I love you instead of anyone else, regardless of how I actually feel, all while leaving the person you, for some reason, think is your competition free to try to mount a rescue! In fact, hear that?”

As Danny stopped briefly, he watched Paulina’s eyes grow wide as the sound of scraping metal and the whining engines of the Red Amazon armour finally registered for her as more than just background noise, somewhere nearby. She desperately snapped her head left and right, trying to locate Ember to no avail.

“So, congratulations, Paulina,” Danny concluded, voice thick with sarcasm. “If you were trying to set up the ideal ‘rescue your love interest’ plot, you’ve managed it. For _Ember._ ”

“Oh no…” Paulina whispered.

The wall behind her exploded outward, metallic shards scattering in all directions, embedding themselves in the golems, and _there_ , streaking through the newly created hole with dust and metal streaming off her, was the red-armoured Ember, her axe raised high and a maniacal smile on her face.

“OH YEAH!” Ember cried.

The red blades glinted in the light as she swung the axe horizontally, aimed straight at the neck of the would-be Empress. She screamed and flung herself to the ground, the axe carving the golden crown from her head. With a snap, Danny broke his bonds and he flung himself at the rising Paulina, his shoulder digging into her ribs as he slammed her into the wall.

“Set ‘em up!” Danny smirked at his blue haired cohort, who smiled viciously back.

“Knock ‘em down!” she returned, before her axe descended on Paulina, who only had time to look at Danny with an exaggerated expression of heartbreak as it smashed into her waist, her avatar rippling outwards from there and disintegrating into dozens of white cubes. A second later, Ember stood over a pile of voxels, panting and clutching Andre.

“I take it back,” Ember declared through a mile-wide smile. “What I said earlier about them not being substitutes. That was _immensely cathartic.”_

“Ha!” Danny laughed, holding out his hand for a high five, which she enthusiastically gave. “I knew there had to be an upside to this whole thing!”

“And hey, I’m feeling so good about that, you got the next one!” She grinned at him. “Where’s that oversized ape, anyway?”

“Given how he’s done so far? He’s probably been shooting at us this whole time and we haven’t noticed.”

Ember’s face as it starts to laugh is the last expression her avatar makes as a crack resounds across the metal room, and the Red Amazon of Mars dissolves, a black ray bolt passing through her head in a split second. Danny, with reflexes honed by 2 years of ghost fighting… OK, fine, he admitted to himself, a year and a half of ghost fighting and half a year of just barely surviving, dove through the hole Ember created, as a scream of rage rings out between further shots.

“FENTON! GET OUT HERE!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So maybe having to rewrite this was a blessing in disguise, because I only thought of Danny’s total dismantling of Paulina’s fiction fixation in the rewrite. Still sore about that though :P
> 
> I came this close to cutting the little Kwan segment, but decided against it just because it helps emphasize a theme in this fic – nearly everyone’s dealing with something, whether obvious or not. If it has no place in the narrative, I’ll let everyone know what’s going on with them down here. About the only two people who aren’t is Paulina, who’s too shallow and self-assured to have that kind of internal conflict, and Jack Fenton, because he’s a simple man – he loves ghost hunting, science and his family, and he gets to combine all 3 right now. He is living his best life. 
> 
> Anyway, more Danny Phantom game rambling: Story wise, something goes badly wrong with the Ghost Zone and natural portals start popping up everywhere, spilling ghosts and ghouls everywhere. Danny eventually gets confronted by Val, Sam and Ember, who each have an approach to the crisis (Sam wants to head into the Zone itself and figure out what’s going on, Ember tells you the GiW have been messing around in there and kidnapping other ghosts, it’s probably their fault, and Val doesn’t care about overall cause, people are in danger, let’s go stop ghosts) and you can only help one (they’re all wrong, but that’s neither here nor there). 
> 
> This one mostly came out of my dislike that the romance options in games like Mass Effect weren’t more integral when they could have been – I’m dating an admiral of a fleet I’m trying to bring into a war, that should matter. So here, Danny’s relationship with each of these characters progresses with the plot and matters, whether you keep it platonic or go romance.
> 
> Oh, also, if anyone has any suggestions for a better summary, do comment one, I suck at those.


	10. VR Troopers: Game Over

The door to the backroom flung open and a raging, ranting blue-haired diva stormed in.

"That stupid, overgrown, loudmouthed walking stereotype! He picks _now_ to become a mildly decent shot?! What a waste of a human being!" Ember fumed, her hair flaring and sputtering as she did.

"Sing it, sister," Sam deadpanned from the couch.

"Never thought I'd get to see a ghost game rage in person," Tucker replied, flatly. "Regret tossing the wrist ray now?"

"Nah, this is nothing compared to Valerie."

"Ember!" Star screamed, sprinting the short distance to stand in front of the ghost girl, bouncing on her heels and beaming. "That was _so cool_ when you smashed through that wall like it was nothing and the look on Paulie's face when you came through and swung at her was priceless here look I've got a picture of it saved to my phone!"

She shoved her phone into the nonplussed Ember's face, the breathless enthusiasm knocking the wind from her rant, before she got a good look at the picture and smirked. "OK, take a breath and send me that picture! I need something to cheer me up from that _goon_ finally learning to aim!"

"I can't believe Dash got that lucky. I'm sure your head is your only weak spot as Jae," Sam complained. "Now it's just down to Danny."

"Pretty sure he can handle Dash by himself, Sam."

"Of course he can, there's just something more satisfying about watching them get chopped by an axe. Nice swing, by the way," Sam grinned at Ember, who returned an evil smirk.

"I dunno, I think watching the musclebound baboon get shot is still gonna be satis- "She cut herself off as she noticed Kwan, still by himself in the far corner near the food. She jabbed her thumb in his direction. "What's with him? Shy?"

Star frowned. "No. Just scared he'll get seen," she replied, slightly sadly, before perking up again. "Come on, you've not missed much!" she enthused, grabbing the ghost girl by the hand and dragging her to the couch.

"How's baby-pop doing?" Ember asked as she was shoved into a seat next to Sam, Star flinging herself over to the other side. Sam grinned.

"Exactly as well as you'd expect."

* * *

"Hold still, dweeb!"

"I have done, more than once! I don't think it helps your aim!" The ghost boy hollered from behind cover, watching as black energy bolts streaked over his head.

"Shut up! Not my fault this thing doesn't shoot straight!"

Danny ducked as another crack resounded around the metallic room, grinning to himself as he fiddled with his pistol, not bothering to return fire. "You know what they say about bad craftsmen and their tools, right, Dash?"

"… No, what?"

"That you suck."

Danny enjoyed the scream of frustration that erupted from the raised platform far, far too much. The latest barrage of ray sniper shots less so, but it still amused him enough to pull a laugh.

"Argh! Stop with this banter trash! Nobody thinks you're funny!"

"You think _that_ was banter? Sir, I've not even begun to quip! No, no, that was just me insulting you. Because you suck."

It was astoundingly easy to rile Dash with even the weakest of material. He ran around a corner as a new clips worth of shots came at him, and he peaked around the corner at his erstwhile tormentor.

After Danny had sped past Dash to escape the hole Ember had created, the jock had stayed on the raised platform, trying to use it for it's intended purpose as a risky sniper's nest, looking over most of the maze-like metallic walls . Danny's nearly full health bar was a testament to how successful that had been.

At least Dash managed to look the part well – the Colonel's outfit wouldn't look at all out of place in some 18th century period drama about colonial soldiers, and he filled it comfortably. Shiny black boots that covered his shins, beige breeches and a bright red military jacket with gold embroidery, buttoned up the hilt. The high-tech tracking headset, technological trinkets hanging from the belt and ray gun did spoil the effect a little but being able to make disparate styles fit in one universe was often a case of small elements like that.

"I'm so _sick_ of you and your garbage! Get out here so I can shoot you in the face and feel better!"

"Wow. How tempting. Here's my counter-offer," Danny replied, bursting from cover and blasting at the platform. The shots didn't connect with Dash, but they _did_ annoy him as he took cover, which at this point was half of Danny's short-term life goals. "Catch me if you can!" he shouted gleefully, taking to his heels into the series of corridors that was the control room.

Dash snarled at the halfa's challenge, and leapt from the platform, charging full speed into the nearest entrance.

The centre of the control room, in contrast to the rest of the map, was surprisingly straight forward – it was a maze of twisting metal, all made of the same glittering blue-black material as the rest of the Engine and concealing a circular area with a platform in the middle of it. It was that area a team had to hold if they wanted to win without needing to eliminate the entire enemy team.

Well, it was straight forward conceptually – in practice, it was a place that players often used as ambush point or used characters with creation abilities to restructure and channel their opponents where they want them. Strategies around this maze were very varied, with a focus on remaking the terrain - a lot of set-up, but worth it as a crowd-pleaser if they pulled it off.

Those strategies seldom included barging into a confined space like an angry bull with a long-range weapon.

"Fenton!" he roared as he barrelled around a few corners, blindly running through the pulsating metal corridors. "Where are you?!"

"Ah, isn't this nostalgic, Dash?" Danny voice rang out mockingly from somewhere within the maze. He span on his heel, ray sniper up, trying to get a good sight on him, but couldn't pin down his location from the echoes. "You, angry at my existence. Me, hiding from you."

"Back when you knew your place," the jock growled, traversing the maze with more caution. How're you supposed to get to the centre of a maze again? Some dork told him once, but he couldn't remember what they'd said, only dragging them to the nearest locker to shove them in. Whatever. He knew that was where he needed to go if he wanted to beat Fenton, one way or the other.

"Eh, I prefer to think of it as 'avoiding a pest so I can protect the town that hates me'," Danny re-joined playfully, sounding like he was coming from the… right?

Dash took the first right he came across.

"Funny how things can change, isn't it?" The hated voice of the ghost boy mused, as Dash continued to follow it. "And how some things don't. I'm curious, Dash – Danny Phantom was your hero at one point, yet here you are. How did _that_ change?"

"Because I found out he was a _loser!_ " he spat, spinning and firing at where he thought he heard footsteps. The bolt hit a wall and sizzled. The noise only made Dash angrier.

"Harsh. Also, to borrow a phrase from someone more perceptive than me – Nope. That's not it. Don't think you'd have spent a week acting all buddy-buddy before deciding you could still try to punch a ghost if that were the case. Keyword being try. Was intangible too hard a word for you to get?"

"Aw, what's the matter?" Dash sneered, trying to fire back. "Can't stand the idea someone doesn't like the big, famous Phantom?"

"I get attacked and shot at regularly by the vengeful spirits of the dead, I don't _care_ if people don't like me. But since it's escalated to you chasing me around with a gun in virtual reality, I figured I'd ask. Be honest, shooting me was the whole reason you agreed to this, wasn't it?"

"Someone's got to take you down a peg or two!" Dash shouted, heels clipping on the metal as he ran again. Where _was_ he? All these walls looked the same to him and the maze bounced sound around so much it was almost impossible to tell where it came from. "You walk around like you own the place- "

"I guess irony was also too hard a word to get."

"- WHEN ALL YOU ARE IS SOME NERD WHO GOT LUCKY!" he roared over Danny's sardonic comment. "Anyone who got those powers could do the same! If I got them, I'd be _better!_ "

"Is that so?" he heard. Much, much closer this time.

Dash turned a corner and was _finally_ looking at something that wasn't uncomfortably alive seeming metal. A large, circular chamber, the centre of the maze, greeted him, the whole area humming quietly. The lights on the walls, the omnipresent feature of the Celestial Engine, were not pulsing and moving at random, but instead slowly circled the walls, speed increasing ever so slightly with every revolution. The floor moved and shifted chaotically, cubes of metal rising and sinking at random intervals. In the middle of the whole thing, a dais slowly rose, an alien looking device sat atop it, stairs forming from the metal cubes as it rose slowly but surely.

Dash didn't pay much attention to his surroundings though, because half-way up the still-forming stairs, in his blue and red jumpsuit that looked so like the black and white one he'd come to hate, was Danny, cocky smirk plastered on his face.

Before Dash could raise his gun and probably miss, Danny's hand flashed to his belt, quick drawing his pistol and firing. The projectile raced through the air and collided with Dash's ray sniper. The gun violently wrenched from his hands under the impact, twisted and smoking. Useless. He glared at the ghost boy, reacting suspiciously when instead of blasting him, he holstered his pistol and spread his arms.

"No powers in here, Dash," Danny declared, his voice taunting. "Take your shot."

Both boys stood there, tense for a moment.

Then Dash bellowed in fury and charged with his fist raised, and Danny ran forward to meet him.

* * *

"Popcorn!" Tucker cried. "Popcorn!"

"Get your own popcorn!" Sam shouted, slapping his hands away from the armful she held as she ran back from the snack table. "I'm not missing a second of this!"

"But there's only a kernel bag left!" he whined. It was _important_ to have the right snacks when watching quality entertainment, like your best friend absolutely demolishing a jerk.

"Then chuck it on my head and get back here!" Ember snapped, her eyes not leaving the screen. All four of them had abandoned the couch for the floor, wanting to be nearer the TV to watch every detail, Tucker triple checking to make sure the match was being recorded properly – he _needed_ clips.

Star watched with wide eyes, her hands making tiny motions as she mimicked the punches – _Danny's_ punches, Sam noted with some surprise. Even Kwan had abandoned his solitude to move closer to watch.

As she held the bag Tucker threw to her to her head and willed her flames hot, small pops erupting already, Ember smirked.

"Alright, baby pop," she whispered to herself. "I got mine, now you get yours."

* * *

Credit where it was due – Dash was strong, certainly stronger than Danny in his human form. He was fast, and two years as the star quarterback of the football team had given him some skills that translated over surprisingly well to a straightforward fight.

He also _hadn't_ spent those two years fighting for his life and the lives of others against entities stronger than him, or a year learning self-defence from a ninth degree blackbelt.

It wasn't a fair match.

Danny ducked under a wild haymaker from Dash's right, and struck back, his fist colliding with Dash's ribs before the left clipped the side of his head as he rose from his crouch. The jock snarled and lunged forward, trying to tackle the jumpsuited boy to the ground. Danny responded by grabbing onto Dash's jacket collar and hurling himself backwards, planting a boot into his chest and kicking out as they went down, launching Dash over himself.

He landed hard and scrambled to his feet to see Danny already standing with his fists raised. Dash ran back in, fists flying in all directions, trying to find a way past Danny's guard, unsuccessfully. His left was caught by the wrist, and Danny stepped to the side, his hand snaking under the extended arm to uppercut Dash on the nose. His head snapped back, and Danny's boot lashed out into his side, releasing his wrist as it did. Dash staggered back, his avatar flickering where Danny had dealt repeated blows – he couldn't see the health bar, but it probably wasn't looking too good right about now. If so, Dash didn't register it. He just got back up and reached out, trying to grab Danny.

"You're DEAD, FENTON!"

A small part of Danny, an exceedingly small part he preferred to keep locked away and unacknowledged, whispered that it wished you could feel pain in VR right now.

He stepped into the attempted grab, flummoxing Dash's grasping and rammed his forehead onto his opponents' nose, before bringing his right arm around, hooking it to crash into his face. A desperate swing from the left finally clocked Danny around the face, but not hard enough to prevent Danny raising his leg and kicking it hard into his chest. Dash fell back onto his knees, his entire frame flickering and sputtering. One more hit and he was done.

Danny stepped back, as Dash glared up at him impotently.

"Still think you can do better?" he snarked down at the injured jock.

"Shut _up,_ " Dash hissed back. "You don't get to look at me like that! Like you're better than everyone!"

"Everyone, no. You, yes." Danny deadpanned, only further enraging the A-Lister on the ground.

"Bad enough you already took everything from me, now I've got to listen to you _gloat_ about it?!"

That threw Danny for a loop. "… Beg pardon?"

"You know what you did," Dash scoffed. "Don't play dumb with me!"

"… I'm sorry, have I wandered into a parallel dimension, and I accidentally ruined your life instead of Val's this time around? Because I'm not getting it."

"This was supposed to be _my time!"_ he fumed, glaring at the nonplussed Danny. "High school was supposed to be mine! Thanks to you, I only got _freshman_ year on top! One year where being the best quarterback the school has ever had mattered to everyone! One year where everyone knew their place, and it was beneath me! I was the _king!_

"Then _you_ reveal you're the great Danny Phantom, and there goes _my crown_! You wander in with snow white hair and glowing green eyes and suddenly nobody's giving me the respect I'm due anymore, because they all think you're something more than a jumped-up loser with some tricks! Everybody looks at me like I'm nothing! And it's all because of _you!_ You did it just to knock me down, and you wouldn't even let me hang around to get the crumbs you left! You stole the best years of my life!"

Danny's face was curiously blank as Dash finished his thunderous accusation. "… So, stop me if I've gotten this wrong, but this is why you kept trying to bully me, why you got worse with others, why me and Sam and Tucker and everyone else has had to spend a lot of our time in school stopping you from 'asserting your authority'? Because you're _jealous?"_

Danny tried. He really did. But eventually he couldn't contain it any longer.

He started laughing, soft at first but growing to peals of mirth.

"What's so funny, Fenton?!" Dash roared.

"HA HA HA HA! Oh, and I thought _Paulina_ was pathetic, this is _actually worse!_ HA!" Danny held his sides as he doubled over. Dash looked enraged and tried to rise, but without a teammate to help him, he stayed down and could only watch as Danny laughed at him.

Eventually, the laughter subsided, and Danny stood up straight, instinctively wiping his eyes for non-existent laughter tears – another thing not programmed into the game.

"So I spend a year lying to everyone, stopping several attempts at destroying or conquering the world, nearly dying for real, watching my family and friends get put in danger over and over… and your conclusion is I went through all that to _steal your_ _popularity?_ Jeez, Dash," Danny finished, pulling his pistol from his holster. "Get some perspective."

He fired directly at Dash's furious face, and the instant it impacted, he exploded in a cloud of bright white cubes, which scattered across the control room.

Danny closed his eyes as the world began to melt away from him, all of it fading into voxels as he felt himself being brought out of the game. The last thing he heard of the VR world was the booming announcer shouting:

"GAME OVER – TEAM PHANTOM WINS!"

* * *

He'd hardly shaken the disorientation from coming out of VR before the door to the game room was kicked in and his teammates rushed in, Tucker tackling him in a hug that expressed far more eloquently than he could the joy of all geeks and nerds at seeing their mortal nemesis humiliated. Sam tried to caution him against doing that in the real world but eventually her moralistic mask caved, celebrating and wishing he'd punched him in the face some more.

Ember sauntered up behind the other two and smirked at Danny. "Cathartic?"

He grinned back. " _Immensely."_

The victory presentation on the stage went by quickly, although not without incident – Ember got a resounding cheer when she was announced as the MVP, and with two kills and little damage to her name, it made sense to everyone except an incandescent Paulina, who tried to leave the stage in a huff. They had all nearly been deafened when Danny had arrived on stage, however, and Danny recalled with a groan that a good chunk of the audience were Casper High students. Leaving was going to be a _hassle,_ he could just tell. They somehow managed to be his most energetic fans despite seeing him near daily.

Backstage didn't go nearly so painlessly.

"McLain!" an accented voice shrieked from behind as Team Phantom made for the back exit, hoping to beat the crowds there. All four made differing noises of exasperation, none louder than Danny.

 _I guess hoping for at least SOME peace was too much to ask for,_ he thought as he turned around to face the apoplectic queen bee and her entourage. Seeing her attention wasn't on him, thankfully, he examined her band a little. Dash flatly refused to look at him, his head turned to the side with a clear expression of disgust, and Danny was glad, because he didn't need another laughing fit right now. Kwan was, somehow, still nervous despite not being on stage anymore. Star was… smiling shyly at him? OK, he's seen weirder.

Paulina herself dominated the scene; her pretty face contorted with fury as she glared at the very unimpressed Ember.

"Hey, pest," Ember said, bored. "What do you want? A rematch right here, right now? Because I'm down. Just need to find someone willing to scrape you off the floor when I'm done."

"Stay away from my Danny!" Paulina hissed.

"Sure."

"… wait, really?"

"Yeah. Which Danny is yours? Dipstick, do you know who she means? It's not you, obviously."

"Definitely not," Danny snarked. "Oh, maybe she means Danny Fotheringham, in freshman year."

"Wow, Paulina, that's open minded, dating a freshman, I'm impressed," Tucker joined in.

"I don't know how you tricked my ghost boy- "

"She hasn't," Sam chimed in, mostly sure that was true.

"-or what spell you've put him under- "

"She can't," the goth girl continued, definitely sure of that one.

"-but I'm not going to let you get away with it!"

"She already has," at this point Sam was just messing with her. Paulina turned her glare towards Sam.

"Shut it, Manson. You've already proved you don't care about Danny, so I'm not talking to you. But _you,_ " she swung back to an increasingly indifferent Ember. "I _will_ find out what you're up to, and when I do, you're going to wish you'd never crossed me and stolen my ghost boy! I can _destroy_ you, make your life not worth living! So back off Danny!"

"Any of that popcorn left," Tucker quipped. "I just love listening to fiction."

Ember stared at Paulina, her expression unreadable. Eventually she opened her mouth to respond.

"Listen, Heather- "

"My _name_ is Paulina."

"No, you're definitely a Heather. I think I see what's happened here. You've forgotten something fundamental. Namely, _who you're talking to,"_ she spat, suddenly much less calm. Paulina flinched back in the face of Ember's simmering anger. "I'm _Ember McLain._ You've all seen how strong this dipstick is, well, I've fought 'your' ghost boy one on one, more than once and gave him a run for his money- "

"Can confirm, the guitar hurt," Danny chimed in, more tense than his tone indicated. He really hoped this wasn't going the way it sounded like it might. He did not want to trash the place trying to stop her killing Paulina. Heck, he almost didn't want to stop her killing Paulina, but she hadn't yet become that annoying.

"- and if we really wanted to, we could wreck this town and everyone in it. _He_ won't, because of the biggest difference between us. You wanna know what that is?" Ember asked, leaning into the increasingly scared Paulina. Danny could see Sam reach into her skirt pocket, the pocket he knows she keeps the lipstick laser in.

"Baby pop is a good person, but me? I'm _not!_ " Ember snarled, her eyes glowing acid green and her hair flickering and flaring dangerously. "You want to stand there and threaten me, better remember that, little girl."

Ember jerked herself forward, seeming to lunge at Paulina, and the girl screamed as loudly as she could, and ran, not bothering to look back as she went as fast as she could away from the ghostly diva. Most of her entourage followed, outpacing her quickly. A few tense seconds passed, before Ember span around, a smirk on her face.

"Well, that went well! Did not want her to call that bluff."

"That was a bluff?!" Tucker exclaimed. "I thought you were about to _roast her!_ And I mean physically! _"_

"Heck no. This has been a good day, I'm not ending it in the thermos. I like my legs uncramped, thank you."

Danny's hand, which had been charging a blast behind his back, unclenched and came around to wipe his forehead. "Well, that was some excellent, terrifying acting then. Come on, hopefully we can dodge most of the- "

"Um. Danny?"

The ghost boy started and turned. He was greeted by a nervous looking Star, fidgeting with her blonde hair and looking like she was having a hard time maintaining eye contact.

"… Hey, Star," Danny inquired, mingled curiosity and trepidation – it wasn't unprecedented that the A-List would try to infiltrate what he was really trying to discourage anyone from calling the S-List for self-consciousness reasons, a burning desire to be nothing like those idiots, even superficially, and wow was that a bad name. Last time had been Kwan, who'd managed to get reasonably close to Tucker before getting rumbled. Why they bothered he really didn't know. "Something up?"

Star visibly steeled herself before replying. "I actually wanted to… well, to thank you."

"Thank me?" Danny echoed, confused. "For anything in particular, or is this a 'thank you for your service' type thing?"

"No, no," Star hurriedly answered. "It's, um… do you remember what you told me, when I apologised to you, all of you, on the first day of sophomore year?"

Danny started to cast his mind back, but was saved the trouble of having to recall by Sam cutting in. "Yeah, he told you that just because what we'd gone through behind closed doors turned out to be dramatic and exciting doesn't mean no one else is hiding problems. And in Casper High, a lot of those problems stem from you and your _friends_ " she said, some measure of disdain in her voice. The blonde had earned some slack from Sam by disowning Paulina like she had, but Manson's had a long memory.

Star flinched a little but nodded. "Yes. That. I… I used to know that. There's always a little something you could do to make someone's day a little easier, and me and Paulie used to like doing it. Then we just started… slipping. I didn't really notice how bad things had gotten when we reached high school. Maybe I didn't want to. We were still helping, I thought, just… differently. People who deserved it."

Sam scoffed at that, and Star's eyes went downcast. "Stupid, right? It all happened so slowly, it was tough to spot, especially Paulie. Who wants to be believe their best friend could turn into a bully? Or that they could? So when you told me that we… that _I_ was making people's lives harder? I couldn't ignore it anymore. I didn't want to be that person, not after hearing the 3 people whose lives I helped make worse had been spending their time saving us all without even wanting credit.

"I've been trying to be better since then. Keep Paulie off everyone's backs, stopping people from getting picked on, that kind of thing. It's been… nice, y'know? I wasn't going to say anything to you all, it would have felt too much like bragging, but when we were fighting Ember told me you'd noticed and I thought I wasn't going to get a better time to say it and- "

Star suddenly smiled, sheepishly. "Sorry. I need to remember to breathe sometimes. I just wanted to say – thank you, for helping me be a better person, Danny."

Of all the things she could have said, this wasn't one Danny had been expecting. Another apology, maybe. The uncharitable part of his brain thought it might have been an attempt to jump ship from the A-List. The egotistical part thought this might end up being a love confession, although what he'd _do_ with that he didn't know. He didn't… someone thought he'd made them better? _Him?_

Sam and Tucker were as stunned as he was, the former's jaw openly dropped. Ember, weirdly, didn't seem all that caught out by this, her only reaction being mild confusion at their expressions.

"Why is this surprising to you dipsticks?" She asked.

"Because I didn't do anything!" Danny protested. Star grinned at him.

"You spent a year protecting 'the town that hates you', "she replied, air quotes around what he'd said to Dash. "I can't think of a better example to follow. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. I'll leave you guys to it."

She turned, and started walking away, her step lighter and happier. No ulterior motive, only glad she got the chance to say that.

Danny stared after her for a moment, before whirling around to his friends, eyes silently asking for permission. Tucker smiled and nodded, Sam rolled her eyes, but gave a thumbs up. Ember just grinned, and turned to the retreating Star, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"Hey! 2001!"

Star jumped and faced them. Danny smiled at her.

"We're heading to Nasty Burger. Wanna come with?" He asked.

The noise Star released subsequently could only be heard by dogs, but the ear to ear smile was easy enough to interpret.

* * *

"Seriously?! A billboard?!" Star asked, laughing over her burger as Tucker finished the story.

"Every. Single. Time!" Danny whined, his head in his hands. "To think my only choices are smothering fans or traitorous friends!"

"And where do I fit in on that scale, baby pop?" Ember butted in, playfully, sipping on her soda.

"You occupy a unique position, that of 'the only person I can trust because you don't know any embarrassing stories', unlike _some_ I could mention!" he yelled, glaring at Tucker and Sam, who looked back with fondness at the grumbling ghost boy.

"Oh, knock off the flowery language, you know we love you," Tucker grinned.

"Yeah, otherwise we'd be telling the really embarrassing ones, like that time you chased some ectopi into the sewer and got covered in- "Sam began, before Danny raised his burger in a threatening way. "No, no, I won't say, just don't let the meat touch me!"

"That's better," Danny smirked, biting into his burger. "So how long do we think it's gonna be before Paulina tries again?"

"Oooo, you're probably looking at a month and a half at least," Star chimed in. "You rejected her, blew apart her reasoning and helped Ember kill her. She'll take a while to recover and twist it all in her favour somehow."

"Great, a month and a half of _blessed peace,"_ Danny sighed contentedly.

"Wait, what?" Ember interjected. "You did all that and she's only gonna back off for a _month?"_

"Oh yeah," Sam said, wearily. "I've lost track of the amount of times Danny's outright rejected her. She usually only stops for a day or two before going right back to it unless there's something special about the way Danny tells her."

"… that is flippin' ridiculous. Baby pop, just get a restraining order or something!"

"Believe it or not, the thought occurred. The problem is it never happens outside public places, and she's generally only annoying, not dangerous, so proving need is tricky. Believe me, I had Tucker look into it, it's doable, but it would take forever and cost a bomb. Honestly, she's not worth it."

"Oh right, I forgot Ember scaring her, that might bump it up to two months," Star added, to Ember's pride.

"Yeah, just get me in again in two months, I'll make her so scared you could just wear a shirt of mine and she'll get flashbacks!" She laughed. Danny shot her a grin.

"Speaking of scaring Paulina," Sam spoke up. "You called her Heather? Was that after the movie?"

"Heck yeah, spooks, it's my favourite. Kitty showed me not long after we hooked up, now we watch it at least once a year," Ember replied, taking another sip of her drink.

"You know they made a musical out of it?"

An undignified spluttering came from Ember as the liquid caught in her throat and she coughed it back up, before glaring at Danny.

"And you didn't think to tell me, baby pop?! This is vital information! We could have been watching a show instead of dealing with the pink pest's nonsense!"

"How was I supposed to know you like the film?!" Danny protested. "Or musicals?!"

"You knew I liked axes!"

"That was a random insight! I might as well have said you read pirate history for fun!"

"I _do!_ See, you've got no excuse! _"_

"Stop, stop, you're both pretty," Tucker deadpanned, before reaching his hand over to Ember. "Here, pass me your phone, I'll get you the soundtrack."

"Legally?" Sam pressed.

"… yeeeeeeees?"

"Tucker!"

"Oh come on, she lives in the Ghost Zone, who's gonna nab her for piracy?"

"I always preferred _Wicked,_ " Star threw out, managing to draw Ember into a discussion about musical theatre whilst Sam and Tucker bickered. Danny leaned back in his seat in the booth and smiled. This went even better than he could have hoped. Not only did Ember seem to have fun (far too much fun when it came to chopping people, but that was maybe expected), and not only did she and his friends seem to get along great despite some bumps in the road, but she'd managed to befriend someone he didn't think would even _want_ to be befriended.

It would be a great day if it wasn't for the rumbling he was feeling through the seat. He sighed.

"Guys, I'm gonna have to leave for a few minutes. Fanquake."

Tucker and Sam groaned and nodded, both immediately grabbing their more fragile belongings and securing them before picking up their food from the table as Danny phased through the wall. A bright flash of light outside the window as he transformed into his ghostly half illuminated both Ember and Star's confused faces, although they followed the lead of the other two in getting everything secure, Star paying particular care to look after her newly-signed copy of Ember's first and so far only album.

And not a moment too soon, as the rumbling Danny had felt increased in intensity until everything in the Nasty Burger not tied down was shaking like crazy. As it reached its height, the four remaining saw the cause – hundreds of Danny Phantom fans, in various bits of merch and some in full cosplay, stampeded past the window, several pointing up at the sky at a flying Danny, who flew away down the street, drawing them further away. Once they were a distant vibration, Ember turned to Tucker with eyebrow raised.

"It happens sometimes," he answered the unspoken question. "Loads of fans gathered up in one place try to track him down and mob him. Should have known it would be coming after Paulina's stunt, packing the place with them. He'll lure them away then use a duplicate to double back. We figured that one out after the first dozen or so times he got rushed."

"That sounds unpleasant," Ember deadpanned.

"You have no idea," Sam replied, drily. "Still, he'll be back in a few minutes."

The group fell into silence for a minute as everyone ate or drank what they had.

"You know, I figured the biggest surprise of the day would be Ember being good company," Sam started, grinning at Ember's feigned offence. "I didn't really see you abandoning Paulina, Star."

"It's been a while coming. I'd have done it before now, but…" Star hesitated. "Well, I didn't want to be alone. Selfish, I know."

"Been there, 2001," Ember replied, patting the blonde on the shoulder roughly. "Might be selfish, but it's normal."

"Thank you!" Star beamed, before scrunching her face in confusion. "2001?"

"Yeah, like the movie. Y'know, 'it's full of stars!'"

"Oooooh. Cool!" she enthused, before pulling out her phone. "I gotta tell Valerie, that reminds me! Come Monday, I'm out of the A-List!"

Sam tipped her cup to her and smiled – she had a while to go before she totally trusted the blonde but saying and doing the things she'd done today, and seemingly over the last year, without asking for anything in return went a long way to assuaging her usual paranoia regarding popular girls. It isn't like they couldn't handle anything she might try to dish out anyway.

Besides, the hair flower was pretty unique, if too bright for her tastes.

"I'm still having a hard time imagining Danny being your inspiration for all this," Tucker confessed. "I love the guy, but I don't see it."

"We're around him too much, I guess," Sam shrugged.

"Maybe Danny just brings out the best in people?" Star offered.

"Yeah, baby pop's… special," Ember said, softly.

There were a few reactions to that.

Ember, for her part, either didn't realise or didn't care how that sounded to everyone else, looking out the window with a wistful smile and… was that the light, or was she blushing a little?

Star just nodded enthusiastically, seemingly oblivious to the implications of Ember's statement and simply happy to have someone agreeing with her.

Tucker, externally, just raised an eyebrow. Internally, however, the part of himself that still occasionally seethed with jealousy was howling. He'd done it _again._ Without even trying, _again._ And he couldn't even blame it on Danny being a world-famous ghost-fighting superhero this time because that should be a turn off for Ember! Unfair!

And he didn't even have to look at Sam to know her right eye was _twitching._

Before anyone could say anything, though, Danny phased through the wall again at speed, coming to a stop in front of their booth, shaking the group from their moment.

"Well, that wasn't fun. I swear there were _marathon_ _runners_ in that group, they were keeping up too well. Anyway, Em, you said you wanted to go about now?"

"Yeah, I probably better," Ember replied, a little sadly. "People are gonna catch on I'm not in the zone eventually." She suddenly grinned, turning to Danny. "Wanna race again?"

"You're on, McLain! I know how to beat you this time, too!" He taunted.

"Oh yeah? How?"

"Cheat!" he roared, and promptly flung himself up through the roof and out of sight.

"Get back here, you snow-haired hypocrite!" she yelled after him, launching herself after him at top speed. The instant she did, Sam turned to Tucker with fire in her eyes.

"I don't trust her, Tucker. Head home and pack whatever you think you'd need for a stakeout; we're keeping an eye on- ow!" Sam rubbed her forehead where something struck her. Tucker held up a fry in a throwing position, deadpan expression on his face. "I just think Ember might have a- stop that!" she cried as another fry bounced off her head.

"You know," Tucker said, airily. "I've had a lot of the fries in other parts of town, even at fancy restaurants now and then, but I always come back to these. They are my very favourite fries. So I hope you understand what it means when I say I will keep _throwing these at you until you stop."_

"But I really do think that- Star, why are _you_ throwing food?!"

"I'm sorry I just wanted to join in, should I not?" Star said, abashed.

"Throw when I throw, and we'll be good," Tucker deadpanned. He cut Sam off as she started to speak. "No, Sam, we're not doing this again! I went along last time because, whatever other motives you had, you were right about Valerie being dangerous to Danny then. Now? He's got us, his parents, a bunch of ghost allies and he's better at this now than he was, even _if_ Ember felt like being a threat, which if we're not reading wrong, she doesn't! And that's _why_ you're doing this. You, Sam, ain't slick when you're jealous!"

"B-but… but…" Sam started, but sagged in defeat. "Fine. I admit it. And I know I have no right, I know. Just… Tucker, please tell me it's not going to happen," she pleaded.

Tucker opened his mouth to tell her that no, of course Danny and Ember weren't going to become a thing, but then he closed it.

Because if he really, genuinely thought about it, Ember wasn't all that far from Danny's usual taste in women.

Danny, for all his protestations that he didn't have a type, really, really did. Valerie, one of the best ghost hunters of her generation and a modern-day amazon. Sam, an absolute _wildcat_ who would walk into the worst situations with a spoon for a cause she believed in and possibly the only person more stubborn than Danny himself. Even Paulina and Kitty, if one stretched a few definitions of people he's liked/dated, fit the pattern to a degree – Danny went for strong, dangerous women. And Ember was nothing if not strong and dangerous.

Still…

"No," Tucker said slowly. "I don't think it will. He's still dense as ghost ice – remember during freshman year? You weren't dropping hints; you were dropping bombs and he still didn't get it. And Ember… This is the first time we've spoken where she wasn't fighting, but she let slip once and not in front of him. I don't think it'll happen."

Sam seemed reassured by her friend's words, and relaxed. Star, on the other hand, just looked puzzled.

"Wait, you mean they're not already dating? I thought they were, they bicker like a couple."

Sam wailed and slammed her head down on the table. Tucker sighed. This might take a while.

* * *

The green glow of the portal tinted Danny and Ember as they stood before it, chatting a little. Neither really felt like ending the day together, but knew they had to.

"So I get you a fun day out, a new set of people to bother, symbolic revenge against your airheaded jerks and the best burger in Amity! Top _that_ , McLain!" He gloated, grinning all the while.

"Yeah, yeah, you did good. Don't let it go to your head, you won't be able to flee your fans otherwise," Ember retorted, waving him off.

"Ugh. Please don't remind me. Fanquakes are the worst. You'd think people would have better things to do with their time."

"You'd be surprised. Maybe a lot of them see you like 2001 does," she teased, taking great pleasure in his sudden flushed face. "Come on, admit it, whatever other problems being outed has brought you, something like that's gotta help, right?"

"… Yeah. It does. At least a little. Never thought I'd ever be an actual inspiration to someone. Not sure how comfortable I am with it, but at least I helped out Star."

"Right! Keep that in mind, it'll help when things feel bad," Ember counselled, briefly dropping the joking demeanour. Then she frowned. "Although, it's… weird."

"What is?"

"Nothing, really, it's just… the mind control stuff on the album should have long since worn off by now. I dunno why she's still a fan of me." Ember scratched her head and shrugged. "Eh, maybe she's just extra susceptible or something. Whatever," she dismissed, before holding out her fist. Danny bumped it. "Thanks for today, Phantom. It really did help. Catch you later!"

She flashed him a quick smile before vanishing into the portal, the ectoplasm closing over her as she went.

Danny frowned. _And that makes three,_ he thought. Every time Ember had brought up music, or fans, or even just performing, it always came back to her mind control for her. That didn't make sense to him. When they'd fought it had seemed like performing was her life. Afterlife. Whatever. Had she ever just played without it being part of a scheme? At least as long as he had known her, no. Except in the woods, and she didn't know he was there. When had she last just played for an audience?

Danny was sure he'd found the way to help her out more permanently. Now to put some thought into how to go about it.

He paused. Why _was_ he so fixated on helping Ember? This was supposed to be a two-way deal, although her company and hanging out had been helping alleviate his general problems and stress of public life. Yet he seemed determined to give Ember an actual _solution_ to her problem while one for his own eluded him entirely. It couldn't just be pity, or general compassion – he'd not gone to these lengths for anyone else.

_I wonder if-_

His phone buzzed, jolting him from his revere. He grinned and put the phone to his ear.

"Hey, Val, how's it go- "

_"You gave my spot on the team to WHO?!"_

* * *

Ember leapt into her couch pit as music blared from her phone. The musical soundtrack was surprisingly good, she wasn't gonna lie. Need to see if she can get to a show on Earth. Drag baby pop along as well, whether he wants to or not. They'd make it fun one way or the other.

As the music blared, she thought back on the day. Spooks and the geek were a lot more fun to hang out with than she'd expected. Honestly, she'd consider the day a win on that alone – two enemies turned at least friendly acquaintances, plus an extra. Getting to play in a digital battleground, get in a solid fight or two and chop a pest in half, well, that was all gravy. And she couldn't help but notice all the stuff Danny had done to make it work - defusing tensions, setting himself up as a target, generally acting as a mediator. If she still needed proof he meant this truce, she had it now.

Already he'd done more for her than almost anyone else ever had. It was a strange feeling. It was almost like she could count on him, even if long experience had told her she couldn't count on anyone, not really.

She felt lonely, he went above and beyond to get rid of it.

Above and beyond. That'd be the motto of this truce if Ember had anything to say about it. Now how to top this…

The next song played, something about a big party being thrown ( _Dad said act our age, you heard the man, it's time to rage)_ , and her phone buzzed.

 **Danny** : Hey, get back OK?

 **Ember** : Aww, miss me already?

 **Danny** : Something like that. Just got my ear chewed off by Val.

 **Danny** : She might or might not shoot you for taking her place today, fair warning.

 **Ember** : Oh joy. Thanks for that, dipstick.

 **Danny** : I'll try and talk her down.

 **Danny:** In the meantime, enjoy chaos!

Before Ember could reply and ask him what he even meant by that, the phone buzzed again, with a different notification.

**Invisobill has added Ember to The Phunky Phantom Phenomenon**

**technus but cooler:** Danny you fool

 **technus but cooler:** I thought we wanted her to stop villainy

 **technus but cooler:** This will not help in any way.

 **Invisobill** : I'd say you were exaggerating, but I remember the time we got Technus trapped in here.

 **Invisobill:** Was not pretty.

 **PoisonIvyWasRight:** We have scrubbed him, right?

 **technus but cooler:** Look at my username

 **technus but cooler:** Of course he's scrubbed.

 **Ember:** What the heck is this?

 **TuckerBot:** WARNING! NAME VIOLATION DETECTED! YOU HAVE TWENTY SECONDS TO MAKE IT GOOFY OR IT SHALL BE MADE GOOFY!

 **Ember:** What

 **Invisobill:** Quick, change your name or the bot will give you something lame!

 **Ember:** To what?!

 **Invisobill:** Tucker's the arbiter, so funny is probably better.

 **technus but cooler:** Out there I am baby

 **technus but cooler:** In here I have _power_.

**Ember has changed her name to Shiny Rapidash**

**PoisonIvyWasRight:** jwsehfoswrhgw Perfect

 **technus but cooler:** Acceptable!

 **Shiny Rapidash:** Didn't think baby pops rambling about video games would come in handy.

 **Invisobill:** How dare you, I am a compelling public speaker

 **PoisonIvyWasRight:** _doubt_

 **technus but cooler:** Oh that reminds me

**technus but cooler has changed Invisobill's name to Invisobillboard**

**Invisobillboard:** Hey Tuck still want ghost powers cause I can give them to you the traditional way

 **Invisobillboard:** Speaking of violent death

 **Invisobillboard:** Moment of silence for Andre

 **Shiny Rapidash:** My _baby boy!_

 **PoisonIvyWasRight:** He chopped well, and he chopped true.

Ember watched in fascination as the chat carried on. What _was_ this? The phone buzzed as Danny messaged her privately.

 **Danny:** Figured you might like some company on this thing besides just me. Should help the loneliness. Doing better?

Ember stared at the message, the music still playing in the back of her mind ( _Dreams are coming true, when people laugh, but not at you, I'm not alone, I'm not afraid!)_ and smiled, small and warm at her former enemy, current… whatever they were.

 **Ember:** Yeah. Much.

This had given her an idea, as well. She knew how to top today and beat Phantom at this game of theirs.

And if some part of her mind was mocking her for still thinking she was doing all this for him just out of competitiveness, she ignored it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Star has an Ember Nickname now, she's clearly sticking around.
> 
> Boy this mini arc went on far longer than I intended it to but given how much I was trying to get done with it, I shouldn't be surprised. I expect the next couple will be more contained, but I've been consistently wrong about that, so even I doubt me.
> 
> Also it's taken us over 50k words for both the main protagonists to hint at romantic interest. I was not kidding about slow burn, although things will be picking up from here.
> 
> Severely tempted to make a chat sidefic, but we'll see how that goes.
> 
> Thing I'm Oddly Proud Of: "No powers in here, Dash. Take your shot." That line got me kinda pumped writing it.


	11. Double Date Demolition Derby - Prelude

“What do you _mean_ , that’s all?! They can’t just end it on a cliff-hanger like that!” Ember fumed, gesticulating wildly at her TV, now displaying stylised credits.

“Hey, don’t blame me, blame the guys who write _Nebula Patrol._ Gotta wait for the next season,” Danny shrugged, grinning as Ember snatched popcorn from the bowl between them and lobbed it at the screen.

“Boo! Boooooo! Release a complete story, you _hacks!”_

Danny laughed, and sank further into the couch pit. He’d needed a day like this _badly._

In the two weeks since the outing to the VRCade and the integration of Ember (and Star, which he was somehow more surprised at) into his regular social circle, it seemed the inhabitants of the Ghost Zone had decided that the break they’d given him all September was officially over.

The Lunch Lady assaulted the opening of a new vegan restaurant; Aragon reared his scaly head for the first time in quite a while, reduced to gold theft to get a “war chest to reclaim his rightful place as ruler of the kingdom”; Technus decided that yes, mechs _were_ awesome and he would like to make one out of old Nokia phones; even Fright Knight had turned up, showing a disturbing interest in the new ghost artefacts exhibit at the Amity museum. For all the improvements Danny had made and the steady increases in power, the ghostly knight was still immensely formidable – It needed back-up from everyone available and more than one Wail to bring him down, and even then, he just escaped instead of being captured.

That was just the first _three days_ and wasn’t counting the dozens of lesser spooks and spirits. October was always a nightmare, as the Ghost Zone seemed to regard the month of Halloween as a time to go crazy, but this was _ridiculous._

Even the Box Ghost had managed to make himself relevant – he started viewing the thermos as a _box_ , which was enough for him to use his powers on it and start impromptu jailbreaks if he turned up at the wrong time, although he thankfully couldn’t use them while inside the thermos himself. It had happened often enough now that Danny was starting to think he was actively hiring himself out as a contingency plan. He was certainly being treated with less disdain when he released whoever Danny had spent the last hour trying to beat.

About the only of his regulars who hadn’t yet turned up and given him trouble was Skulker, still missing from the previous month, which frankly worried him – if a week went by without the robotic hunter starting a fight and ranting about his pelt, it meant he was up to something and that seldom boded well. Given time to plan he generally upgraded himself from combative nuisance to capital-p Problem, and he was too bone-weary to deal with the rants and traps that would come with an encounter with the metallic goon.

So when his parents had offered to take Friday nights patrol solo to give him a break, he hadn’t even let them finish the sentence before pulling out his phone and asking Ember if she wanted to finally get around to marathoning _Nebula Patrol_ with him when he was done with his half-day of school.

He ignored the little voice in his head that asked why hanging out with Ember was his first choice for time off, putting it down to both her realm being as far from Amity as he could get without feeling guilty and wanting an opportunity to ask about her performance issues.

_… Note to self, do not phrase it like that._

And here he found himself, sat in Ember’s bizarre, tiered living room, blue flame carpet and all, settled into her couch pit and humming along with the end credits theme of his favourite show that had, up until the last minute, managed to charm the flame-haired confidant next to him.

“So ending aside, what did you think?” Danny asked Ember, her arms crossed and sulking.

“I hate that I enjoyed it and I hate you for introducing it to me,” she grumbled. “How long until the next season anyway? If they pull this again at the end of that one, I’m out!”

 _Gotcha,_ he thought with a grin.

“Pretty sure they’re only gonna be able to use the ‘cut to black gunshot’ trick once, so you’re safe. Next one’s premiering in… I want to say January? So only three months or so.”

“Argh, the suspense is gonna kill me!” Ember groaned. “Was that shot Exie betraying Kaeler at the last second, was it the Colonel catching up, did TCR just misunderstand and fire at the space pirate queen?! I have questions and I need answers!”

“You could jump to fruitless speculation and theorising on the internet,” Danny snarked.

Ember glowered at him. “I’ve had the internet to myself for only three-ish weeks, and I already know: that way madness lies.”

“Then you’re out of luck, Em. Gotta be patient,” he said, before looking her up and down appraisingly. “Assuming that’s even possible for you.”

“Shuddup, dipstick!” she shouted, hurling a pillow at his laughing face. “I can be patient! Sometimes! When the situation demands it! Maybe!”

“What an unqualified endorsement! You should be proud!” he replied, chucking the pillow back at her, with an extra for good measure.

Ember narrowed her eyes. “Oh, it’s _on_ now, Phantom!” she growled, climbing out of the couch pit to grab one of the cushions lining it. Danny had leapt halfway to his feet by the time one of the comfy and _heavy_ elements of the pit belted him directly in the face. He fell backwards and landed heavily onto soft, plentiful _ammunition_ , looking up at the playful smirk of Ember with a grin.

“Is that how it is, McLain? Fine then!” Danny hollered, grabbing fistfuls of cushions and launching them straight at the blue fire of her head, one after the other in quick succession. She dipped and ducked, snatching the occasional pillow out of the air to return straight to him. One of the smaller projectiles got past her as she spun to avoid its bigger cousin, Ember grunting as the cushion bounced off her stomach. She glared at her opponent, standing in a now depleted pit, the last couch cushion held in his hands like a baseball bat.

Ember grinned and kicked her boot up, grabbing the cushion as it rose into the air, and ran at the ghost boy, swinging wildly as she went.

5 minutes of flying feathers and shouts of laughter later, both collapsed in the mess they’d made for themselves, random body parts sinking in the irregular gaps of the scattered cushions. Ember turned to Danny, who was waving his hand through the blue carpet, amazed at how much like fire it looked and acted, and smiled.

“Call it a draw?”

Danny paused, then shrugged. “Eh, why not. I’m comfy now. I can destroy you in a pillow fight later.”

“Oooooh, dipstick, do not start the fighting talk again, I _will_ hit you,” she warned in jest, before lapsing into silence briefly. “So how’s things going over there, anyway? We kinda dived straight into TV before catching up.”

“Better _now._ Cannot tell you how much I just needed a straight-forward hang out with no ghosts or fans involved. Any time with Sam, Tucker and Star inevitably turns into a ghost hunt, a fan mob or both.”

“Ouch,” Ember winced. “Bad couple of weeks?”

“You have no idea. I’d say I don’t know why October is always nuts, but that’d be a lie and we both know it.”

“Spooky season?”

Danny nodded sagely. “Spooky season.”

“Well, no spooky talk in here, then!” Ember declared, before pausing. “I mean. I’m a ghost, you’re a half ghost. As much spooky talk as we can avoid, at least.”

“Oh hey, in the _spirit_ of that,” Danny began, ignoring entirely Ember’s exasperated groan at the pun, rings of light encircling his head with a somehow audible flash, disappearing to reveal black hair, blue eyes and paler skin, leaving the rest of him still in ghost form. “Tah dah! My lazy Halloween costume! Came up with it before the Disasteroid!”

“… seriously? You don’t think doing this back then would have been pushing things a little, even for you?”

“Literally nobody figured out beforehand that if you colour Phantom’s hair black, he’s just me in a hazmat suit made by my parents,” he snorted. “My worst-case scenario was Dash thinking I was insulting his hero or something and deciding to teach me a lesson. I guess me not firing lasers back at him would be proof enough I wasn’t Phantom for most.”

“Ugh, that _ape_ ,” Ember spat, distaste written all over her face. “Bet him and the pest just bounced right back to the top when the weekend was up, that type always do… what?” she asked, seeing the smug smile on his face.

“Not quite! Wanna hear some ultimately meaningless but juicy high school drama? In which the spoiled brats do _not_ win?”

Danny started a little when Ember suddenly sat bolt upright, staring down at him with a manic grin. “Look who you’re talking to, baby pop! Of course I wanna hear all the grisly details! Dish!”

He smirked wryly and hauled himself up to a sitting position. “I don’t why I’m _surprised_ you’re this excited for gossip.”

“Yeah, me neither. Now dish. Diiiiiiish!” she cried exaggeratedly, shaking him by the shoulders. He laughed and shoved her off.

“OK, OK! So, at first it looked like you were right – not a thing was gonna change for them at school. Paulina managed to put around the… well, she genuinely thinks you’ve got me under mind control, so does that count as a rumour? Or is that all rumours are, incomplete or wrong information?”

“Less philosophy of gossip and more gossip, baby pop,” Ember deadpanned.

“Fine. Anyway, she spread around that I was under your mind control and she was trying to free me at the time, blah blah blah, the same song and dance she gave in the game. Not _everyone_ bought it, ‘cause you’ve not been seen since the Disasteroid and I’ve been rejecting her all that time, but most did.”

“What are they, even dumber than I thought? You’d think the fans in there would know why that doesn’t work.”

Danny shrugged. “I don’t really talk too much about the details of what I can do. I _have_ been mind controlled publicly before, so I guess I can’t blame them for believing it. Anyway, she won a few sympathy points there, and as for Dash, his whole king fixation was backed by beating people up, so it isn’t like losing to me was gonna change _that_.”

“This sounds depressingly like they dodged every bullet. What happened?”

Danny said nothing and fished his phone from his pocket, tapping a few keys before chucking it over to the ghost girl, video already playing. She grinned at the scene – Casper High’s cafeteria, which so often doubled as a stage for whatever student drama was happening that day. True to that reputation, the video was recorded from a circle of students, surrounding the table in the middle of the room, populated by students with far too expensive outfits for high school and football players.

And standing in front of that table was a noted pest and Ember’s favourite blonde, amid a shouting match.

_“- and I don’t even know who you ARE anymore! I haven’t for a year now! What happened to the Paulie who just wanted to make people smile?!”_

_“Oh, grow up Star! We’re not children anymore!”_

_“Then why do you keep acting like one?!”_

_“How can you speak to me like this?!”_

_“Because I finally started paying attention! You and this entire pack of jerks have been doing nothing but making everyone’s lives miserable just because they’re not the right kind of people! I’m sick of it!”_

_“If you’re sick of making sure only the best get the best treatment, then you can leave!”_

_“That was the plan!”_

_“… w-what?”_

_“You heard me, Paulie! I’m done with the A-List, I’m done with Dash, I’m done with you!”_

_“F… fine then! See who’ll take you after this! You’ll come crawling back eventually once you’ve been stuck with the losers!”_

_“Nah, I doubt that.”_

_“Danny?!”_

_“Hi, Danny! Hey, Val!”_

_“Hey girl. You about done with these morons? We saved you a seat with us.”_

_“Yeah. I think I’m finished here.”_

_“Great! We were going to save you a pizza, but Val said you’d prefer a BLT, so we got you that!”_

_“Aw, thanks Danny! Come on, I’m famished.”_

The video carried on for a few more seconds, prominently zooming in on the face of Paulina as Star, Valerie and Danny walked off to their corner table – the queen bee looking so stricken and horrified that Ember couldn’t contain a cackle.

“Ha! Oh, that is priceless! Good for 2001, think that hit home! So what happened after?”

Danny grinned. “Is civil war too dramatic?”

“Yup.”

“Good. Civil war happened after,” he replied, to Ember’s ill-concealed delight.

“Oooo, fighting in the school corridors? The grounds laid to waste? Widows and orphans abundant?”

“Um. No?”

“And this is why civil war was too dramatic,” Ember mocked, a pillow landing on her face in response.

“You shut. No, not quite that, but it’s more everyone started picking sides now that there was a side to pick. Before, you were in the A-List or you were a loser. Now, everyone assumed Star was trying to set herself up as a rival for Paulina and we were backing that up,” Danny said, before pausing. “High school politics are _weird_ , the more I think about it.”

Ember shrugged. “Nothing on the line but pride and popularity. People’ve fought harder for less.”

“Guess so. Still weird,” he mused, before shaking his head. “Anyway, the fun thing is, even though she wasn’t trying to do anything like that, she’s still winning on numbers,” he smiled. “Turns out she wasn’t kidding when she told us she’d been trying to help other people out. Most of the A-List stuck with Paulina, but nearly everyone else prefers Star. Which has had some neat fringe benefits.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Besides invites to parties and stuff from someone I actually like and not an obsessed fangirl, they listen to her when she tells them to back off us and give us some space.”

Ember opened her mouth, then stopped and rolled her eyes. “I was gonna ask why they didn’t listen to you, but I’ve had fans – stupid question.”

Danny chuckled at that. “Yeah, a little. Still, Paulina can’t just bounce back from this, and the A-List as a whole has lost a lot of ground to Star’s accidental coup. She’s blaming you for that, too.”

Ember guffawed. “I’ll happily take the credit for that! Even if it was you that started it,” she remarked, to Danny’s shaking head.

“Nah, if you hadn’t been friendly with Star while fighting, she’d never have said anything, probably gone right back to the A-List – ow!” He exclaimed, as Ember kicked him in the leg, lightly. “What was that for?!”

In response, Ember pointed at her skull boots. “See these? They are big and heavy. Your shins are small and fragile. Do the math, dipstick.”

“But I like my shins…”

“Then shuddup and stop swimming in a river in Egypt.”

“… what?”

Ember rolled her eyes. “ _Denial_. Jeez, I figured puns would get through to you. What, it still feels weird because you being outed led to something good?” At Danny’s nod, her tone got less sardonic and softer. “How is all that? I know the world won’t have let up on you, but how’re you doing?”

“… Better, honestly,” Danny admitted, his eyes focused on the floor. Well, the cushions on the floor. The floor was under there somewhere. “I still don’t like having all eyes on me all the time and a month like this just reminds me that I probably couldn’t stop any time soon but…”

“2001 using you as an example to get better helped?” Ember prompted and was surprised when Danny shook his head.

“No. I mean, that’s good, don’t get me wrong, but if I’m being honest, I’ve been feeling a lot better since… well, you.” He looked up to meet Ember’s widening eyes.

“Me?!” Ember sputtered.

“Ah, now who’s gone swimming?” Danny grinned. “I mean it, though. I don’t know if I’ll ever get settled into the ‘being a celebrity’ stuff, or ever figure out how to get to space with everything else people expect me to do, but it’s felt less… heavy, since that night in the woods. I guess someone else knowing about it and trying to help helps more than I thought.”

“… Same, baby pop,” Ember admitted. “Like, nothing’s gone _away,_ it just doesn’t seem to matter as much. Plus, y’know,” she said, shifting her perch atop the couch cushions and averting her eyes. “You’re not bad company. When you’re not being a dipstick.”

“Just some ringing praises from you today, isn’t there,” he teased, ducking the incoming pillow. “But you too. You’re a lot of fun when you’re not trying to bludgeon me.”

Ember smiled, wide and bright at him, which he returned gladly. It was moments like this, when neither of them bothered to guard what they were feeling against the other, that Danny most enjoyed. He could practically _feel_ the trust Ember would have to have in him to let her guard down even slightly. Or maybe he actually could feel it. Ghost powers were strange sometimes. Still, though, it felt… pleasant.

 _Come on, Fenton,_ he thought, _you’re not gonna get a better moment than this to ask her._

Danny gathered his resolve, and found he spoke at the same time as Ember.

“Hey, Em, I was wondering- “

“Baby pop, I wanna show you- “

 _Ding-dong_.

Danny and Ember whipped their heads round to the front door, eyes widening in a panic.

“Invisible, **now** ,” Ember whispered harshly, snapping her fingers. The couch cushions flew around, knocking Danny onto his back as one escaped from under him, inserting themselves back into the pit neatly as Ember made a beeline for her front door and snapped her fingers again, the tiers of the living room closing behind her, leaving Danny frowning in concentration.

Invisible. Right. Like the first power he mastered. Easy. Easiest thing in the world.

So why wasn’t it working?

He could still see his body, even when he was willing it to be transparent. Danny could swear it was working too, he had the same distinct tingle he did when he was invisible so _why wasn’t he invisible._

Wait - he only got that tingle when he was human.

_Oh, no._

Danny pulled his phone out quickly and checked his reflection. Or lack of one since his head was completely missing. Oh, wonderful.

He tried to push aside his panic and fix this. His head reappeared, looking more than a little startled, but when he tried again, he suddenly found himself as a floating head and neck. Ignore the sounds of conversation on the other side and who that might possibly be and exactly how dead he may be and how badly he may end up messing up Ember’s life if he got caught. Focus on how to deal with the situation. Like this, he could turn his head or his body invisible, not both. In that case, he could change his head back and then be fine.

The rings resolutely failed to appear when he tried.

_Why is this stuff always easy to do and impossible to undo?!_

Fine, fine, he can be the floating head of Danny Fenton or a headless Danny Phantom costume, which would be easier to hide? There wasn’t anywhere he could guarantee neither would be spotted if he tried.

… Oh, this was a _bad_ idea, but it was all he had.

He shot a text to Ember, positioned himself as best he could and hoped whoever was on the other side of that door was easily distracted.

* * *

Ember took a few seconds before opening the door to try to calm her breathing and school her face into something other than freaked out. Baby pop would have hidden himself away by now, and if someone had figured out he was here and this was the start of her getting hounded out of the inhabitable areas of the Zone or locked up or _whatever_ , there’s no way they’d be this quiet about it. Plus no matter who turned up, she could deal with them easy.

“OK, OK, I’ve got this,” she muttered to herself, before twisting the knob and opening the door.

To be instantly tackled by a green and red blur.

She relaxed. There was only one person who she let hug her like this unannounced. Mostly because she had yet to come up with a way to stop her.

“Heya, girlfriend!” Kitty announced loudly from somewhere behind Ember’s head, pulling herself out of the hug to beam at the diva.

Like almost all denizens of the Ghost Zone, Kitty hadn’t changed at all. She still _rocked_ the biker chick look, and her hair was still done in those… Ember was never sure what the heck her hair was. She was fairly sure Kitty didn’t know either. At least Ember was certain her hair was, in fact, on fire. Whatever, it worked for her.

Ember spared a smirk for her friend. “Hey Kitty. Johnny being a hound again?”

Kitty’s face turned to hurt. It was only being friends with her for as long as they had that let Ember know it was fake. The girl could make Pariah Dark feel guilty, she was sure of it.

“What, I can’t just come by to see my best friend because I want to?”

Ember put a finger to her lips in mock thought. “You _could,_ yeah, but lemmie just cross-reference your last three visits – Johnny being a hound, need my help punching someone in the face because Johnny was a hound, and spontaneous gossip night.”

“Aha!” the green haired ghost cried in triumph. “There’s at least one!”

Ember barked a laugh. “Yeah, I guess one outta three counts for something,” she conceded. “Seriously though, what’s up?”

“… OK, so maybe, just maybe, I have a teensy tiny, itty bitty little favour to ask? Just a small thing you could do for me, your best friend in all the afterlife? Can I come in?”

“Is that the favour?”

“Oh, come on, unless… Oooo!” Kitty’s eyes lit up and turned sly. “Have you got a cute _boy_ in there?” she pried, tone low and insinuating, head craning around Ember’s shoulder to see what was there.

_Yes._

“Wha- No! Oh, just get in here, I’m not gonna hear the end of _that_ otherwise,” Ember groaned, rolling her eyes and snapping her fingers and opening the steps to the living room.

As Kitty sauntered past Ember with a victorious grin, her phone buzzed. She pulled the thing out and frowned.

 **Baby Pop:** Claim it’s an old thing of Skulker’s you found.

_Claim what is a what now?_

“Ember, what the heck is this?!” Kitty called out, confusion and disgust lacing her tone.

For the briefest of moments, Ember remembered what it felt like to die again, as her brain shut down in an excess of panic. Eventually, she realised she was still… ‘alive’, before charging at top speed into the living room.

“It’s not what it looks like, I can explain, I swear!” Ember shouted at full volume as she charged in, before stopping abruptly, her mind flatly refusing to process what it was her eyes were telling her she was seeing.

“Why do you have Danny’s head mounted on a wall?” Kitty asked, looking as flabbergasted as Ember felt.

_… why DO I have baby pop’s head mounted on the wall?_

Because after a brief struggle, her brain was willing to accept on balance of the evidence of its usually reliable senses and testimony from one Kitty, of sound mind where anything except her boyfriend was concerned, that she did in fact appear to have an _astonishingly_ lifelike black-haired human head on her wall. A totally blank expression adorned the face of the head, eyes focused on the middle distance.

After a few moments of stupefied astonishment, Ember realised Kitty was staring at her with no little confusion and curiosity and pulled herself together.

“I, uh… found it when I was going through some of my old stuff?” she stated, hesitantly, before remembering the text and rushed to finish. “I think it was something of the trashcans he left behind. Practice or something for when he caught the dipstick, I dunno.”

“So why’d you put it up? It clashes with everything else in here!” Kitty declared, before pausing and examining the head in closer detail. “Well, and it’s gruesome and creepy, but mostly the clashing.”

“I dunno, just wanted to see how it looked. I’ll probably just chuck it, anyway, enough about the -”

“Wow, this is _really_ lifelike,” Kitty ignored her friend, poking the mounted head. “Look, it even feels like his cheek!”

Ember moved in to pull Kitty away from her unwanted decoration but stopped in her tracks. “… How do you know what his cheek feels like?”

“Oh, remember, I overshadowed someone to date him and make Johnny jealous? I might have gotten a little… handsy, sometimes.”

“There are things I need to know, and things I don’t. Wanna guess where _that_ one falls?” Ember deadpanned, yanking Kitty away from the head and trying not to think about that. The instant the green haired girls back was turned Ember shot a look at the head and mouthed _what the heck_. The head briefly came alive to give a sheepish grin before returning to blank lifelessness.

“Funny Danny’s head being here, though,” Kitty remarked as she nonchalantly dived headfirst into the couch pit and landed on her front, boots kicking the air. “He’s the favour I need!”

Ember leapt in, bouncing as she landed and stuck to a corner, arms splayed out to the side. “OK, that doesn’t sound ominous. What, you want me to bring you his actual head? Or are you bored with Johnny again and wanna give baby pop a test run?”

“No, no! I’d never leave Johnny for good!”

“I’ve noticed,” Ember replied drily, only to be hit with yet another pillow. This was getting to be a trend today.

“He’s planned us a super-sweet date tonight! We’re gonna cruise around, hit up a karaoke bar, a restaurant, maybe cause a little trouble, all the good stuff!”

“M’kay. That does sound better than his usual. So what does that have to do with me? Or Phantom for that matter.”

“Um, well,” Kitty replied, twirling her hair in her hand. “He kinda, sorta, probably wouldn’t appreciate that this is just a date and not anything else, and if Johnny sees Danny he’s gonna fight him anyway, so could you go through and keep him away from the town for me?” Kitty rapid-fired.

Ember blinked. “You… want me to find a way to keep the dipstick away from Amity Park, so he doesn’t interrupt your date?”

It took a lot of self-control to not laugh her head off or cry right now. The sheer irony was _mind-bending._

Kitty took her momentary wrestling with the giggles as hesitation, and dived in. “You don’t have to _fight_ him! Lead him on a chase, pop up at random to drag him away, heck, teleport the both of you to Hawaii and have fun! Please?”

Ember knew she couldn’t just _agree,_ if only because instantly doing so would be a little suspicious to Kitty, but she had a specific weakness that Kitty knew, and baby pop had stumbled on – puppy dog eyes. As her friend’s eyes went wide and watery and she clasped her hands together in front of her, she sighed. “Alright already, you can turn the waterworks off! Jeez, how does Johnny manage to resist that? When do you need him gone?”

Kitty dove forward and tackled Ember again, her arms wrapped around her shoulders as she whooped. “Aw, thanks, girlfriend! I owe you one! Anything you want, I can make it happen! I need him out of the picture by about 7, so you’ve got an hour or so to get ready!”

“Yeah, I think I can about manage that,” Ember muttered wryly, eyes flickering to the mounted head.

They passed a few more minutes of idle chatter, mostly on the vein of boyfriends, exes and the plotted and just incarceration of the latter before Ember snapped her fingers to open her door and waved at Kitty. “Go on, get outta here, make yourself prettier than Johnny deserves, and come back round tomorrow, I might have something in mind already.”

“You’re the best, Ember! See you tomorrow!”

The exact instant the doors closed on the green-haired biker ghost, Ember whirled around and ran to where the head was, jabbing her fingers hard into where it looked like the ghost boys’ ribs should be.

“Ow! OW! Quit it!”

“You! Absolute! Freakin’! IDIOT!” she screamed, punctuating each word with a hard smack to his chest. “What the heck, baby pop! What made you think this’d be a good idea! I oughta call this whole thing off and just brain you right here and now if you’re gonna be this stupid!”

“I’m sorry!” He whined, his body reappearing and trying futilely to defend itself against Ember’s enraged poking. “I dunno what happened, I just couldn’t turn my body and my head invisible at the same time! Guess the Halloween outfit has it’s downsides.”

“Ya think?!” Ember shouted. “If I weren’t already dead, I’d have a flippin’ heart attack right about now! How did you even mount yourself to my wall?! Wait, no, never mind, I don’t think I wanna know.” She threw her hands up and stalked back to the pit, throwing herself down and pointedly not looking at Danny.

Danny bit down his ‘humans’ phase through ghost stuff’ explanation and focused once again on his head. No such luck, it was still human looking. He sighed, then went to join Ember in the pit, cautiously lowering himself a short distance away from her.

“I _am_ sorry about that, really” Danny said softly. “It was all I could think of. I figured a fake head is easier to explain than a headless body, and there wasn’t anywhere I could just stash myself without getting spotted.”

Ember didn’t say anything for a few seconds, which worried Danny, before she sighed and looked at him, not angry, just kinda… resigned. “Yeah… I know, dipstick. Sorry about the jabbing. Just wasn’t expecting… that. That was stressful. Woulda been even if you’d managed to be totally invisible.”

“Yeah. Just lucky it was Kitty, I suppose.”

Ember nodded, still looking morose.

“… Something else up?”

She half-shrugged, faux nonchalance in the gesture, before she seemed to decide the act wasn’t needed. Danny was a little gratified that she didn’t seem to want to hide anymore. “I was having fun, y’know? Wanted to show you something you’d like, too, and now you’re gonna have to go, aren’t you?”

Danny started a little, before rubbing the back of his head.

_And there goes any hope of asking her about performing._

“Probably, yeah. Not to _stop_ them, or anything, but if I don’t at least keep an eye on them, my parents are gonna go after them, and they’d be way less lenient.”

“Figures,” Ember muttered.

“You know, you could come with as well? You’re supposed to be distracting me anyway, we could still hang out.”

“What, and stalk my best friend?” Ember retorted half-heartedly. “Nah. Head off, dipstick. I’ll talk to you later.”

_Oh, and doesn’t this just feel like I kicked a puppy._

Danny wracked his brains as hard as he could. There had to be something he could do to salvage the evening. She was actually disappointed he’d have to go; he didn’t want to leave like this. Could he just warn his parents to back off? No, there wasn’t a guarantee they’d wouldn’t have a different definition of trouble when it came to Johnny and Kitty. He’d have to be there, which would mean trying to get Ember to go along. But there wasn’t a way to do that without-

“Wait,” Danny whispered, yanking his phone out of his pocket and dialling frantically.

“Dipstick?”

“I’ve got an idea! Hey, Tuck,” he said as his friend answered. “Yeah, I’m good, just hanging out with Ember. Yeah, she liked _Nebula Patrol,_ even if she doesn’t want to admit it,” he responded, grinning as Ember snorted despite herself. “Listen, that building up on Voorhees Drive… Yeah, the fruitloops. Is that off-the-books solution still viable? … Great! With any luck, it’ll be done by tonight then! Yeah, yeah, thank me later. I gotta go, see you tomorrow!”

He clicked the phone off and turned to Ember, grinning. She regarded him curiously but, if he was getting better at reading her expressions, with a little tinge of hope as well. “What was all that about, baby pop?”

“Ember!” He yelled theatrically, springing up in the pit and pointing at her. “How’d you like to get Kitty and Johnny and go demolish a building, consequence-free?”

“… You’ve got my attention.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brain, I said "let's take a quick break before getting back into it", not "remove all incentive to write for a week and a half."
> 
> Hate my brain, normal service has resumed, kicking off a new mini arc, and what better way to kick it off than with fluff and ludicrous power malfunctions!
> 
> Thing I'm Oddly Proud Of: Danny's mounted head. I dunno why the image makes me laugh, but it does.


	12. Double Date Demolition Derby - The Teams

The streets of Amity Park reverberated with the roar of a motorcycle and the screams of people diving for cover as Kitty clung to the back of her man and whooped.

There really was nothing else that topped this, Kitty thought contentedly. Racing through the streets, Johnny taking all kinds of daredevil stunts to impress and excite her, and no interruptions either! She knew she could count on Ember to get Danny out of the picture, her girlfriend was always reliable for all she might grumble. Although she hadn’t much this time, Kitty noticed. Perhaps she just had cabin fever and needed to get out of the realm for a while. She could certainly do with it; she’d been in a funk for a while, and Kitty hadn’t known how to help her. A good fight with Phantom might be just what she needed, where Kitty had _needed_ a good date night.

She glanced around Johnny’s shoulder to get a good look at him. He was so _cute_ when he was focusing like this, his eyes darting left and right a split second before the bike moved in those directions as well, swerving to avoid any other obstacles, his glowing blond hair rippling in the wind.

Kitty knew neither of her friends quite got what she and Johnny had. Even she would admit it didn’t look that good from the outside sometimes – Johnny’s wandering eye and her rage and retaliation, the splits and near instantaneous getting back together. Nobody ever noticed the times he’d move heaven and earth for her (and maybe get Danny’s sister in mortal peril to do it, but nobody said love was easy. They really ought to apologize for that at some point), or that for all his ogling he never actually _did_ anything. Nor was Kitty blind to the fact she could probably have anyone else if she set her mind to it.

But they didn’t _want_ anyone else, not really, not in the same sense. Neither left the other for any longer than a few days, a week at most. It was just… how they worked, part of who they were. At this point it was almost like a game to them.

It might seem weird, or dysfunctional or whatever other word you wanted to apply to it, but they had stayed together all this time regardless, and the highs more than made up for the lows.

They had done the more organised parts of their date long before – a romantic dinner at an Italian restaurant (dining and dashing was half the fun there) and a few rounds at a karaoke bar (she had _not_ shattered glass trying to sing _Don’t Stop Believin’,_ thank you) before they set out into the night. Now? Now was _thrill-seeking_ hours.

The motorcycle landed heavily, narrowly clearing the gap between a parked truck and an overhanging sign, Johnny and Kitty sharing an exhilarated laugh as they bounced in the seat. Their eyes both scanned the urban landscape looking for the next likely challenge for Johnny’s motorcycle skills. Eventually he smirked and pointed to a construction site, hollow concrete cylinders suspended from cranes mid-air amid the scaffolding and new frames.

“Hey babe, bet you I can get through all those pipes in one go without dropping!” he shouted over the engine.

“Oooo, you’re on! No powers, though!”

“Don’t need ‘em for this!” he boasted, swerving the bike off-road and crashing through the thin wood separating the site from the road. Pushing the engine to faster and faster speeds, Johnny aimed the wheel at a pile of building material, a steel beam sticking out of it making… Well, not a ramp, anyone who feared death would dismiss it for that purpose.

So naturally, Johnny made right for it, with Kitty’s encouragement.

The sound of squealing wheels echoed as the bike leapt from the end of the beam, the patch of darkness beneath the vehicle, too deep in hue to be an actual shadow coiling and seeming to spring in the split second before the jump. The pair sailed through the air, the heavy metal wobbling in the air slightly as it soared through the pipes. Johnny’s elbow took a scrape on the edge of the last one as the angle of the bike changed, but they cleared it, crashing hard into the fence on the other side and screeching to a stop in the middle of the street, both grinning like maniacs.

“Ha! How’s about that!” Johnny shouted, looking back at his girlfriend. Kitty put her finger to her chin in thought.

“Mmmmm, I dunno, Johnny. Could have sworn I felt something give us a boost before we jumped. Wouldn’t have been Shadow, would it?”

“What?! I’m not gonna cheat on a bet with my girl!” He lied, brazenly. He knew it and she knew it. It didn’t matter, though – it was all part of the fun.

Nevertheless, Kitty shrugged. “Oh well then, guess you win your prize!” She declared, before planting a kiss on the biker ghost’s cheek, to his triumphant smile.

“I don’t get a little more for gettin’ us through?” He teased.

“Mm. That _was_ pretty impressive, but I’ve got high standards,” Kitty replied coyly, clasping her hands behind her back. Johnny managed to combine fondness and incredulity in his expression as he looked at her. “Maybe if you do something _really_ good you might get something more~!”

“And how exactly you expect me to top that one, Kitten?”

“I might have a few ideas for that!” A voice called out from above them.

The ghostly couple snapped their heads upwards, in time to see a black and white shape streak down the side of a building and land on the sidewalk near them with an echoing thud. The jumpsuited figure was bent over with legs braced apart and cracks radiating out from the pavement where he’d planted his fist for balance. Phantom maintained his gaze on the pair of rebellious ghosts on the bike for a few moments, a self-satisfied smile playing about his lips.

Before his face contorted with pain and his free hand grabbed the other, rubbing it.

“Yee-OW!” The ghost boy cried out. “Why does anyone land like that?! All it does is hurt your wrist!”

The spell of his sudden entrance broken by the declaration, Johnny’s face turned cocky and fierce, and he tilted his head towards his girlfriend behind him.

“Say, Kitten – would knocking the little man around count as ‘really good’?”

“I… I dunno, Johnny. I guess it would,” Kitty hesitantly replied, already sure of the outcome.

_Darn it, Ember, you were supposed to keep Phantom away! Now Johnny’s gonna pick a fight he can’t win again to impress me!_

She debated internally whether she should get between the two. Oh, Danny would listen to a plea for peace, she was sure, but Johnny… well, she loved him for being a daredevil, she wouldn’t change that, but it _did_ mean he’d take stupid, stupid risks, like fight the local superhero to get a kiss.

Kitty sighed and tried to look on the bright side – Danny tried to not hurt anyone all _that_ badly and playing nurse for a few days certainly had some opportunities for _fun_.

Johnny slammed his fist into his palm and glared at Danny. “Alright, Phantom, you heard the lady. If I want a kiss, I’ll have to… you wearing a wig?” he asked, his aggression vanishing into puzzlement.

“No.”

“‘Cause that really looks like a – “

“It is not.”

Kitty peered at the top of the now slightly red ghost boys head. “… it kinda does! What happened, baldness starting to set in?” she jabbed, grinning.

“What?! No! I mean, my dad isn’t bald, so probably not?” Danny replied, patting what was definitely his hair and not a wig, honest.

“I’m pretty sure bein’ bald comes from your mom’s side of the family,” Johnny chimed in, to Danny’s horror.

“Oh great, grandpa’s head basically shines in the sun, now I’ve got something else to worry about. I cannot pull off bald,” he muttered.

“Dipstick, your hair looks like a saw blade. Going bald would just save you the hair gel,” another voice interjected from above. Kitty glanced upwards to see the blue haired form of Ember, floating above ground atop her guitar and looking down on the black and white boy with amused disdain. Danny glared up at her, putting his fists on his hips.

“Hey, my hair looks great! And for your information, I don’t use any hair gel. It just does this by itself.”

“It says a lot about how ridiculous that sounds that you being selectively dead seems normal by comparison.”

“I’m not taking this from you, you don’t even _have_ hair! If there’s a heavy rain, we’d see how well _you_ pull off being bald!”

“I make it work!” Ember declared defensively, snatching at Danny’s head and yanking her hand back with some white furball in her hand. She threw the monstrosity into the air, and whipped her hair towards it, a plume of flame bursting forth to incinerate the cheap wig. “You weren’t fooling anyone, baby pop!”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, rockstar,” Danny retorted, running his gloved hands through his black hair. “Like you never had a power malfunction. Or should we go ask Youngblood where his pirate ship is?”

Johnny 13 had long since put his fists down, lounging on the handlebars of his bike with a smirk plastered on his face as the two volleyed insults at each other.

“Didn’t exactly plan on taking in a show, but the clowns here ain’t bad, huh, Kitten? … Babe?” He queried, turning to see his girlfriend looking at the pair curiously, eyes narrowed.

 _Something about this feels… off,_ she thought. Oh, jibes and banter, that was pretty standard for Danny, and Ember still had the sassiest mouth of anyone she knew who _wasn’t_ a halfa. Honestly, seeing her this fired up and responding as fast as Danny was a sight to warm her to the core, she hadn’t been this sharp in months, but there was this nagging feeling she was missing something, her subconscious nudging her brain to pay attention to what she was seeing.

Questions for tomorrow, she decided. Although there was at least one mystery that needed clearing up right now.

“Ember!” Kitty called out, the rocker jumping a little. “What the heck are you _doing_ here?! I asked you to keep Phantom away from date night, not drag his malfunctioning butt right to us!”

“Oh, so _that’s_ why you suddenly show up and try to make me chase you,” Danny said, turning to Ember. “And here was me thinking you were just bored.”

“I kinda was. S’why I’m willing to try out _your_ idea, dipstick.”

“You asked Ember to keep Phantom away? What, you don’t think I can take him?” Johnny asked Kitty, who swiftly plastered a big, cheery, completely false smile on her face.

“No, no, nothing like that, honey! I just, uh… I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone, get the town clear for our night and help Ember clear her funk?”

OK, so it wasn’t strictly speaking a lie. That she knew for a fact he could not take Danny didn’t matter much. Johnny seemed satisfied with the answer, anyway, tilting his head in acknowledgement and turning back to the other two. Kitty stared at Ember expectantly, silently demanding answers.

She shrugged. “Not much to tell. I popped up in front of Phantom, tried to get him to chase me, mostly by mocking his hideous wig- “

“Hey!”

“It was hideous and now it’s ash, deal with it. But, instead of fighting me, he told me about something actually fun he wanted my help with. Figured you both might want in as well so…” she trailed off, flicking her wrist with finality.

“Oh, come on,” Johnny scoffed. “What does the squirt know about real fun? And how’s it gonna beat me just punching the snot out of him here and now?”

“How about punching the snot out of a building until it falls down? That sound more fun?” Danny deadpanned.

“… Danny, my oldest bud!” Johnny shouted, his face lighting up. “You being serious?”

“Completely,” Danny replied, the corners of his mouth curled upwards at the tonal shift. “There’s an office block about a half mile away. We can destroy the thing without any interference. That is, if that sounds enough like ‘real fun’ to you.”

“We’re _so_ in, where’re we going to get our wreck on?!”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Kitty said, cutting Johnny off. “Blow up a building? You? The big town hero wants to demolish some place? How’s that work, exactly? And why us?”

Danny grinned, almost vindictively. “Let’s just say nobody likes the guy who owns it. That one’ll be obvious when we get there. But, short version for now – the mayor wants it gone, the town wants it gone, I wouldn’t be surprised if the world wanted it gone if we asked them. It just can’t be done _legally._ But if it happens to be trashed by some ghosts in a fight, well, accidents happen. As for why you guys?” He folded his arms and smiled. “Who the heck else _would_ I get? You two are about the only ones I can think of who’d be down for this kind of fun without turning it into a plot to kill me. To be honest, _Ember’s_ the surprise for me, but I guess a year mellows you out some.”

“Eh, something like that,” Ember supplied vaguely. “So, you two want in on this? It’s just me and baby pop otherwise.”

Johnny turned back to Kitty; a pleading look in his eye. “Come on, babe, you wanna destroy a building, right? You can’t tell me you haven’t wanted to at least punch a few walls down!”

Kitty bit her lip, eyes flickering between Johnny, Ember and Danny. Johnny face betrayed him entirely – this sounded _fun_ , let’s _go_. Danny, mostly, looked as open and honest as he usually did, enthusiastic about the prospect. Ember… there was still something off with her. Body language was casual, but it felt forced somehow. Come to think of it, there was a little of that with Danny too, but that was probably just experience talking – It’s not like they hadn’t all taken a swing at him at one time or another.

Johnny wasn’t _wrong_ either – it did sound fun.

“I don’t know… This _was_ supposed to be our date night…” She began.

“Then let’s make it a double date,” Danny threw out, spreading his arms wide in a gesture of compromise.

“Yeah, that should – Wait, _what?!_ ” Ember near-screamed, glaring at the halfa in surprise.

“What, it makes sense! Plus, I can’t be a worse date than the _other_ guy. I’m taking you to do something fun, for one!”

“I… you… I can’t even count the different ways that idea disgusts me, dipstick!” She sputtered, her cheeks flaring a darker blue.

“Has anyone ever told you you look cute when you’re angry?” Danny asked, half-flirtatious and half-mocking.

“Then get ready for me to look _real adorable,”_ Ember growled, raising her fist, her previous nonchalant posture gone and replaced with… Hm. To Kitty’s eyes, the shock and surprise were genuine but this time the _anger_ felt artificial. She wasn’t sure she’d notice that if she didn’t know Ember as well as she did.

That settled it. There was something going on here, and Kitty _needed_ to know. The gossip alarm was going off something fierce. Besides, destroying a building _would_ be a great way to end date night.

“Oh, why not!” Kitty cheered, interrupting the oncoming storm of banter. “Never been on a double date before!”

“ _I am not going on a-_ “

“Great!” Danny enthused, cutting off the incensed looking Ember. “Head up to Voorhees Drive, big office building. It’s the only one on the street. I’ve gotta go sort a few things before we can kick off, so we’ll meet you there!”

“We?”

“Yeah, I get the impression I made my date mad – “

“ _Dipstick I am warning you – “_

“So, we miiiight have to hash things out a bit,” he remarked, ignoring Ember’s threatening intrusion into his personal space. A laugh exploded from Johnny and he held out his fist in solidarity over angry women. Danny flinched back at first, before relaxing and bumping his own against it.

“See you in a few, then, Phantom. And, uh, quick tip – back rubs always get me out of trouble with Kitty,” he whispered, winking at a reddening Danny before the engine revved and the bike sped off, carrying its passengers into the night and towards a destructive frolic.

Danny turned, wiping his brow. “Well, that went pretty we-YAH!” he shouted as he ducked Ember’s wild swing. “What?!”

“Double date? _Seriously?!_ You are just _full_ of good ideas today, dipstick!” she drawled, sarcasm etched into every word.

“Hey, it worked didn’t it? I figured Kitty would go for that as an angle!” Danny protested.

“You’re not wrong, but you could warn a girl before you pull something like that!”

“Would it help if I took Johnny’s advice?” Danny joked.

“You know what, yes it would!” Ember countered, smirking wildly at the stammering, blushing mess the ghost boy became.

“I… you… that’s not… Ember!”

“Oh, relax, baby pop. I’m not gonna make you do that; we got an appointment to keep. You can massage me after,” she teased, watching in delight as his head sank into his palms. “Oh, so this is the easy way to shut you up, is it? Good to know!”

“You are going to finish the job of killing me, you know that,” he groaned, before dragging his hands down his face, visibly calming himself down. “Whatever, let’s get backrub on- _back on track_. Reckon they bought it? Because wow, it was hard pretending to be even _that_ hostile again.”

“Man, I know, the only thing I could think to insult was your hair. And that looks good on you, honestly.”

“Aw, you do care.”

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, think we’re good. I mean, Kitty’s gonna give me a grilling tomorrow, but I can fend her off. Don’t think we gave anything away.”

* * *

_It isn’t just Ember,_ Kitty determined as the wind whipped through her hair and the bike roared. _It’s Danny as well._

It had taken a while for her to realise what it was she’d seen that had felt wrong. They were talking along the same lines as Danny always did, maybe a little friendlier than usual, but Kitty was pretty sure that could just be down to him not seeing Ember in a year and everything going peacefully. Ember was acting weird, but then she’d been acting weird since after the thing with the asteroid. At least she was out and doing stuff instead of trying to figure out what to do.

Then Danny had flinched away from Johnny’s fist bump.

He hadn’t done that when Ember had snatched the wig from his head. And she’d done worse than Johnny.

Something’s up with the both of them and Kitty was going to find out what.

“The game’s afoot,” she whispered to herself, smirking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New summary, better or worse?
> 
> Won’t lie, I’m this close to chucking everything else and just writing something with Kitty and Star as private detectives.
> 
> Also we've cleared 100 Kudos and 2000 hits! Neat! And whoever Violent Science is, thanks for putting this up on the TVTropes recommended page! If someone wants to put together a tropes page, I would be ecstatic!
> 
> Anyway, something of a shorter one this time out because I am a) ludicrously busy the next week or so, so wanted to get something out in case I don’t have time and b) my brain is kinda fried. Probably gonna throw up another chapter of the chatfic to try to refresh myself, but either way the next chapter of this might be a little longer in coming.
> 
> Someone asked, so I’m just gonna say here – I’m writing this as though the Danny Phantom universe is on a sliding timescale, like most comics or the Simpsons. You know how Homer was in high school in the sixties and college in the nineties, or how the continuity in comics acknowledges things like Booster Gold saving Ronald Reagan but still being the same age now? Kinda like that.
> 
> Oh, and if you think “Oh, so this is the easy way to shut you up, is it? Good to know!” is just Ember making excuses to flirt more in the future, you’d be right.


	13. Double Date Demolition Derby: The Main Event

“Y’know, Phantom,” Johnny 13 remarked to the jumpsuited boy as he looked up. “I don’t think I’m gonna need an explanation for why you want this place trashed.”

Kitty couldn’t help but agree.

At first glance, there wasn’t much to distinguish this office block from any other upscale corporate office the world over. Around thirty floors, all reflective glass and minimal amounts of external support, typical uninspired but expensive looking modernist architecture. What rooms could be seen contained artfully arranged office furniture, a sure sign that nobody had even been in the building since it had been finished – no personalisation, nothing out of place.

Nothing odd at all, until you looked a little closer. Then you’d start to notice the regular little alcoves visible through the windows that contained paintings in various locales. All depicting the same man doing some relevant activity. Tall, middle-aged, with a smile on his face that was probably intended to be benevolent but came across as smarmy where it wasn’t openly creepy.

To say nothing of the ostentatious and vast black statue of the same man in Atlas-pose in the main lobby, holding up the ceiling, the words “Our Founder” etched into the base. None of those present would describe themselves as remotely refined or sophisticated, but even they recognised an affront to good taste when they saw one.

The four ghostly teens stood in front of the entrance, the ironically tasteful, stylised red V adorning the double doors, plastered proudly above the words “Mastercorp Regional Holding, LTD”.

“So, this belonged to Plasmius?” Kitty wondered. “Wow. I thought Technus had an ego.”

“I’d put them about even,” Danny replied drily, getting a snort from Ember.

“Coming from the guy with statues in every city?” She teased, prompting a groan from Danny.

“Oh, please don’t remind me about those. I keep trying to get them taken down, but everyone keeps coming out in support of the things…” he groused.

“Wanna trash the one here when we’re done with this?” Johnny offered. Danny paused, seeming to seriously consider it, before shaking his head.

“Nah. There’s only so much we can get away tonight. Thanks, though.”

“So, what’s the deal?” Ember queried. “I get why you _wanna_ trash the place, but how the heck is this still here? The Dracula wannabe tried to blackmail the world!”

“Do we gotta know? I just wanna get to smashing!” Johnny whined, gesturing at the soon-to-be-ex-building.

“I’m kinda curious too,” Kitty admitted. “Shouldn’t all his stuff have been, I dunno, seized or something?”

“Most of it was,” Danny began. “First thing anyone did after the Disasteroid- “

“The what now?” Johnny asked.

“The Disasteroid. You know, big asteroid heading for Earth, you all, uh, “helped” phase the planet so we could avoid an apocalypse?”

“They called it _the Disasteroid?”_ the biker snorted. “Who came up with that, a twelve-year old?”

“Moving on,” Danny chuckled. “Everything Vlad owned was seized pretty much the instant it was clear he was gone. People are still sorting through all the records and legal stuff, trying to figure who he stole what from and what reparations to give. His whole company went too, ‘cause he kept it all in his name. It’s gonna keep a lot of lawyers very busy for a couple of decades. Any kind of physical property that didn’t come under the criminal investigation mostly got given to local authorities to do whatever with, sell, use, destroy, take your pick.”

He inclined his head to the office building. “Except _this_ one. This one’s got a lot of weird legal shielding and loopholes to stop anyone doing anything with it.”

“How come?” Kitty asked, tilting her head curiously.

Danny shrugged. “No idea. There’s nothing hidden there, I’ve looked– “

“Oooo, breaking and entering. Scandalous~!” Ember sang, to Danny’s laugh.

“Vlad can press charges if he ever gets back. But seriously. There’re no secret labs, no left-over weapons, no tricks, no traps. Just office stuff and some storage. It’s not even been used by anyone. I don’t know why he wanted this building in particular to stay legally his and survive everything that could be thrown at it, but he did.”

“It ain’t gonna survive us, though, right?” Johnny boasted, cracking his knuckles.

“Ha! Nope, basically everything he pulled on this one needs a physical, standing building to apply,” he stated, before pressing the back of his hand to his forehead theatrically. “Oh no, it was destroyed by some dastardly ghosts! Why, that handsome and heroic Danny Phantom- “

“Oh, isn’t he amazing!” Ember cried, swooning and entirely failing to conceal her laughter.

“- he tried to fight them off, but they just caused too much _damage!”_

“So, we get to trash a building, stick it to Plasmius and get away scot free?” Johnny asked. When Danny nodded, he raised both fists. “OK, I guess knowing the business _does_ make this a little better. Now let’s get to the part where the building falls down already!”

“Gladly!” Danny grinned. “Ember, _dearest,_ if you would be so kind?”

“Ladies, gentlemen and Johnny!” Ember announced, turning to face them, a microphone flaring into existence in a burst of blue fire. “Welcome to the Double Date Demolition Derby! In this special event, sponsored by Vlad Plasmius and his crime of an outfit, our contestants will go from the top down and _absolutely destroy_ every single thing in the building before the bringing it down on top of them! Contestants! Are you ready?!”

The other three chorused yes, with immense, destructive smiles on their faces, and rose into the air.

“Then let’s _get to it!”_ Ember screamed, launching herself to the top of the building as swiftly as she could, trailed by the whooping forms of Kitty, Johnny and her “date”.

* * *

The fate of office furniture was seldom particularly exciting. Their lot in life was to serve in usually unglamorous function, letting people in suits conduct whatever nebulous business had caught their attention. The most exciting use they were ever put to was as either as props for an action movie or as… well, useful implements for otherwise office inappropriate activities.

With all that in mind, it was rare that they had their existences ended by a metal skull adorned platform boot bursting through them at speed.

“I am never looking at office chairs the same way again!” Danny shouted joyfully as he ran with all his might through the thin wooden cubicle, hands clamped firmly on the back of a wheeled chair. Ember, sat in the chair, raised a chunk of wood that had once been part of a desk and swung, hard, at the cubical wall Danny had yet to ram her through. Both the chunk and wall shattered into pieces, showering the pair in shards and splinters.

“Driver! Driver!” Ember demanded, putting on a snooty accent. “I require a new beating stick!”

“At once, milady,” Danny replied, reaching over to the newly opened cubicle and crashing his fist into the desk within, ripping out a mostly intact panel and chucking it to the ghost girl. “Your new beating stick, ma’am!”

“She’s gonna need it!” Another voice rang out from the head of a corridor of debris as Johnny pushed another chair containing Kitty, bearing down on the black clad pair with a malicious grin and a table leg in hand. Danny span the chair around as Ember imitated a hunting horn declaring a charge, and her driver obliged her.

The two chairs passed each other with a splintering crash as they smashed their respective weapons against each other, breaking apart in their hands with a scream and a laugh from both. The chairs skidding to a halt a short distance from each other, wide grins all around.

“Give it up, Danny!” Kitty gloated good naturedly. “You’re not gonna top Johnny in driving anything!”

“And _you_ can’t beat Ember in sheer destruction!” Danny shot back, earning an appreciative smirk from his passenger.

“Well, we ain’t proving it here anymore,” Johnny commented, indicating the room around them. Danny followed his gaze and realised – between the two teams of drivers and smashers, not a thing in this room was still undamaged except the chairs themselves.

What had once been a standard set of cubicles and office furniture, albeit high quality ones, lay ruined all around them. Cubicle walls cleaved in two, desks cracked, chairs not currently used as vehicles bent and snapped. Vlad’s paintings were naturally among the first casualties, mostly ripped to shreds until Kitty had produced a lipstick tube. Then they were… improved to the best of the quartets limited artistic ability. Vlad suited a tutu, they’d discovered.

“Huh,” Danny remarked. “He’s right, I think the only thing left to destroy would be the walls, and I’d rather save bringing the place down for the end.”

“Never thought I’d see the day when Johnny 13 was a voice of reason,” Ember snarked, getting up from the chair and stretching her back.

“Ah, get lost, flame brain,” Johnny retorted, grinning. “Your date’s right, no sense ending things early. Next floor?”

“Not quite!” Kitty chimed in. “What about there?” she asked, pointing in the direction of a large pair of wooden double doors.

“Oh yeah,” Danny said, smirking. “Almost forgot about that. First though, Ember! Who do you think trashed more of this floor?” He demanded.

“Eh. Probably them. We got a little too caught up in the Jeeves routine,” Ember replied with a shrug.

“Fair. Alright then, you two win, go claim your prize – you get to go wild in Vlad’s office!”

The ghostly couple looked at each other and grinned, before Kitty sat herself back down into the chair and pointed at the door, laughing maniacally as Johnny phased them both through all the debris and eventually the door. Before too long, the melodious sound of destruction reached Danny’s ears.

“Ah, the greatest sound in the world – the fruitloops possessions getting obliterated,” he sighed, contentedly.

“Glad you talked me into this, baby pop,” Ember grinned. “Wish we could see the look on Plasmius’ face, it’d be priceless to see that smirk wiped from it!”

“Right?! He’d be livid! When did you meet him, by the way? Sounds like you have.”

“Eh, Skulker. He hired the trashcan once or twice when I happened to be around. Never met anyone so smug. The idiot hunter even let him talk down to me when I called him creepy for wanting to spy on your mom.”

“Ugh, I am _so_ glad he’s in space. And now I need to deck Skulker the next time I see him, whenever that is.”

“Aww, it’s alright, you’re already a better date than he is!” She teased.

“Oh, I’m not living this down for a while, am I,” Danny muttered through reddening cheeks, pinching the bridge of his nose as Ember cackled at him.

And from the ornate wooden doors, Kitty watched the pair silently through a crack.

Admittedly, none of this was normal – had Danny and Ember ever had an occasion where they weren’t punching either each other or someone else to just talk? Investigate later – but how they were acting with each other seemed about what she would expect from this scenario. This scenario no one could possibly have predicted or planned for and was therefore really difficult to figure out.

Ugh. She needed some better baseline for behaviour than this. She knew Ember had the sass, so did Danny… but Ember’s was usually _harsher_ than this, right? What she could hear was still mocking but it was lighter, just for fun rather than to win some battle of words. Then again, she was usually at Danny’s throat, maybe this is just how it goes when they’re not actively trying to kill each other?

No. That’s not it, there’s gotta be more to it. The gossip sense doesn’t tingle for no reason.

Kitty was jolted from her observation by a particularly loud smash – Johnny had reached the desk at the far end of this weird office and cracked the mahogany-looking thing in half. Unlike the rest of the building, it didn’t have the nauseating artwork of Masters. Presumably, he didn’t need it in his own office, although you’d think there’d be more mirrors. Instead, the place had a lot of empty display cases, glass cubes on plinths framing the approach to the desk. What was supposed to be in there she didn’t know and didn’t much care – glass was fun to smash. Digging into whatever was going on with Danny and Ember could wait a floor or two.

The two emerged not five minutes later, Johnny with a piece of paper in his hand, to the sight of Danny and Ember engaged in a mock sword fight, broken wooden beams clacking back and forth. Danny’s ‘blade’ snuck past Ember’s guard and clipped her on the wrist. She yipped in pain while Danny dropped his stick and moved forward, concerned.

“Oh geez, sorry, did that-OOF!” He exclaimed, as Ember jabbed her beam straight into his gut.

“Oldest trick in the book, baby pop!” She gleefully shouted.

“Congrats, you now have the cunning of the average possum,” Danny snarked back, rubbing his stomach before turning to the returning pair. “That was quick. Sorry, I figured Vlad would’ve had something studier than all that glass I was hearing.”

“Aw, but the tinkly noise is the best!” Kitty enthused.

“Yeah it is!” Johnny agreed, kissing his girlfriend on the cheek before turning to Danny. “Hey, Phantom, found this in the desk when I took it out,” he added, throwing over the paper. “There was, like, twenty of them all the same. Make any sense to you?”

Puzzled, Danny took the… letter, apparently, and studied it.

He got precisely one sentence in before he burst into hysterical laughter, clutching his sides.

“What? What’s so funny, dipstick?” Ember asked, irritated at being left out and snatching the paper from the currently incapacitated halfa. “… I don’t get it, what’s funny about ‘Welcome to the new headquarters of the Amity Park Packers’?”

* * *

“OK, just go straight for the next while, plenty to trash in your way!” Danny called from the ceiling, floating like he was lounging on a sofa. Ember, blindfolded and grounded, shot a thumbs up in his vague direction and ploughed forward, swinging her guitar wildly as she did.

“Johnny! You too!” Kitty cried from her perch next to Danny, as Johnny barrelled ahead, crashing through the thin walls and occasionally tripping up.

10 floors in, the group had decided to switch things up a little. Now, the name of the game was “guide your blindfolded partner to destroy everything on their side of the room.” It needed a shorter name but whatever, it worked.

The lower they got in the building, the less a traditional office it became, the top floors apparently where Vlad expected the “serious work” to get done, while the lower floors were apparently as much a PR exercise as anything else – this one was laid out in a sprawling open plan office with a few games and similar objects scattered around, as well as empty areas that Danny presumed was meant to be filled with beanbags or toys or whatever Vlad thought was popular at the moment in ruthless bloodsucking enterprises pretending to be cool.

The machinations and thought process of the exiled halfa were the furthest thing from the mind of at least one of the participants however – Kitty can get to Ember more or less whenever she’d like, assuming the ghost rocker wasn’t in the foulest of all possible moods. Danny was a harder catch, however, and more likely to trip up and reveal something. How he was so bad at lying, she couldn’t fathom.

_Time for a little poking and prodding._

“So, Danny,” Kitty began, raising her voice a little to be heard over the din of destruction below them. “It’s been a while! How’re you doing?”

“Oh!” Danny responded, a little surprised at the friendly tone. “Uh, not too bad. Really tired the last couple of weeks. You know how everyone gets around Halloween. Besides that, I’m alright. How’re you and Johnny? Not seen you both for a while.”

“Pretty good! Johnny’s been real attentive, and tonight’s been great. Sorry I got Ember to cause trouble for you, though. Just didn’t want Johnny to get beat up trying to impress me again.”

“No, I get it. We really need to work out a system for that,” Danny threw out nonchalantly, before turning back to his partner. “Ember! To your left, pinball machine!”

“I know! I wanna steal that later!” The diva called back.

“Where would you even put it?”

“I’ll make a room!” She shouted, putting her fist through a desk that looked like it had been melted and then badly put back into a useful shape.

“Couldn’t you make machines as well? I know you can!”

“Stop being reasonable and let me do some crimes!”

Danny rolled his eyes and turned back to Kitty. “I’d like to request my partners unwillingness to destroy a pinball machine not be counted against our final score.”

“Denied!” Kitty giggled, while her brain did some tallying. He knew how realms worked, then. Well, he had enough ghost allies that he could have asked them. Most of them were certainly strong enough to be able to maintain realms of their own. If the rumours about Clockwork taking a personal interest in him were true, then realms were probably the _least_ of what he knew about.

So, she couldn’t say for sure if him somehow _knowing_ Ember was strong enough to make rooms and objects within her realm was just him making an educated guess or something else. Most likely the former, but still.

Wait, what was that last thing he said to her?

“System?” Kitty asked, her head tilted quizzically. Danny nodded.

“Yeah, for when you guys want to have a date night.”

Kitty blinked. “… what do you mean?”

She hated that she sounded suspicious. Kitty legitimately _liked_ Danny, he was a good guy when they dated, and whenever they’d been able to talk without it turning into a slugfest – _Christmas truce, that was when Danny and Ember could have talked,_ her mind suddenly supplied – and it isn’t like most of the ghosts in the Zone gave him a _choice_ about having to stop them. But he wasn’t exactly known for making exceptions or making deals with them.

Right?

He shrugged. “I mean, we’d have to talk out a few ground rules, namely, please don’t run out on _Giuseppe’s_ again? It’s my favourite Italian place in town, I don’t want it going out of business.” Danny grinned, taking the barb out of his words.

Well, this wasn’t exactly how she expected this to go. As far as she could tell, and she was _really_ good at reading people, he was completely sincere. The part of Kitty’s brain that was trying to play detective reared up ahead of the bubbling excitement she felt, shouting to make itself heard.

_Get a hold of yourself, girl! This is no way to poke and prod, even though if he means this, wow, does this open up a whole lot of options for you and Johnny. Get control of the conversation!_

Kitty let a little skepticism show. She could _feel_ her face trying to morph into an expression of glee, but she held it down. “This is kinda… sudden. Did a ceiling tile hit you on the head or something?”

“Heh. No. I was going to suggest it next time I saw you both anyway. Well, the next time I saw you both and it wasn’t going to start a fight, so probably Christmas. Why _is_ Johnny always so eager to brawl anyway?”

“It’s fun! You can’t tell me it’s not fun!” Kitty protested, defensive of her man. “Besides, it isn’t like you hurt each other all that badly anyway.”

“Good point,” he conceded. “And that’s kind of why – of everyone who comes through the portal, you two seem to be looking for a good time when you’re not dragging me into your relationship drama. I don’t mind _that._ It’s a nice change from world conquering or attempted half-murder, honestly. So, I’m alright with you guys coming through now and then to spend some time, so long as it doesn’t come at someone else’s expense. We’d need to go over some rules and get you some way to communicate, but it works out.”

“So, have you-Johnny!” Kitty suddenly shouted. “Go right! Buncha weird looking furniture that way!”

“Thanks, babe!”

“Love you!” she called down as Johnny swerved and crashed headfirst into a filing cabinet, before returning her attention to Danny and making her move. “Have you made a deal like this with anyone else? Sounds kinda like you have.”

It only barely sounded like he had, but it was a decent shot in the dark for a reaction.

And there it was. His eyes went a little wider, his face a little frozen, and actually saying “No, no,” took a fraction of a second longer than it should have and was a mite too loud. He was lying. Lying better than he usually did, Kitty would grant him, but lying all the same.

_So, he’s got something similar going, probably with Ember, then. Why? And how long for? Must be a while if he’s comfortable enough to let her get close._

_Oooo, how close? ‘More double dates’ close? It fits what we know!_

_… I’m letting the excitement bleed into detective-me now, aren’t I?_

“Well, I guess we get to be the first then, because _of course_ we accept, Danny! We’d be super stupid not to!” she shouted, finally letting her joy loose on the unsuspecting halfa. If she kept pushing that anyway, Danny’d get skittish and clam up, she justified to herself. “Oh, we can finally go on that road trip Johnny keeps talking about! Thank you!”

She shot Danny a bright smile, which he returned, before they turned back to their partners and began shouting advice, the symphony of destruction increasing in volume.

_We’ve got like nineteen more floors anyway. I can wheedle more details out of him later. Once my brain stops coming up with human world things for me and Johnny to do, heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-_

* * *

Contrary to popular opinion, Johnny 13 was _not_ an idiot.

Impulsive, sure, he’d be the first to admit that. He felt life wasn’t really worth living if you planned everything out. It’d get too dull too quickly. Nor was he much of one for broadening his horizons – he was good at fixing machines, riding his bike and fighting. He was content with that being his skill set.

OK, he could stand being better at boyfriend stuff. He’d hold his hand up to that. Was there a way to ask Phantom advice about it without seeming weird? With how he got Ember to go from “I’MMA SLAUGHTER THAT DIPSTICK IN HIS SLEEP” to borderline friendly insults and playfully messing with him, he’s got to know a few things that’ll help.

Wow, it said a lot about Johnny’s usual social circle that the only person he can think to turn to for relationship advice was Danny.

Anyway. Not an idiot, that was the thread. No matter what Spectra said when she thought he couldn’t hear, or his parents back when he was breathing, when they made sure he could hear. So, whenever it came time to change floors, it wasn’t hard to notice Phantom smashing his way through the floor instead of just phasing like a normal person. At first, Johnny figured it was just part of the fun for him. Even joined him a few times – how often do you get to punch your way through a concrete floor, after all? Can’t let Phantom look tougher than him, either, not in front of Kitty.

Still, when it was every time, and Danny kept it up even when his knuckles started stinging him, something was going on.

Unfortunately, subtle was also not part of Johnny’s skill set.

“Hey, Phantom!” he called, stepping over a variety of cheese wedge novelty hats and figures. Plasmius must have been _real_ confident about bringing the Packers to Amity to have made all this garbage and stuck it on a floor of this building. Maybe these were just samples, they _were_ all boxed up until the four of them went through like a battering ram. Kitty and Ember were even off to the side, trying on some of the more ridiculous things on offer before burning them. Whatever. “Somethin’ up with you? You keep hitting the ground like it owes you money. Forget how to phase or what?”

“Oh, uh, no,” Danny replied, running his hand through his hair ruefully. “It’s actually dumber than that. Was trying for a lazy Halloween outfit. You know, Fenton head, Phantom body? Yeah, turns out that’s easier to turn on than off. And _that_ means- “he declared, before his head briefly turned translucent, then solidified before his body did the same. “- I can’t phase both at the same time. And I think decapitating myself with my own body weight would kind of ruin the evening.”

“I dunno, figure any evidence would go with the building, you’d save your dignity at least,” Johnny smirked, Danny joining him not long after. “Sooooo… this mean if I chuck a punch at your head and your body you could only block one?”

“… Seriously?” Danny deadpanned, fixing the biker with a glare. Johnny chuckled and slapped him on the back.

“Just messin’ with ya. I’d owe you a solid just for letting us in here, forget what you told Kitty,” he replied, before putting a hand to the back of his head. “Um. Thanks. For the offer, I mean. You mean it?”

Danny smiled. “Of course. Might mean you get to fight me less though.”

“But not _never,_ right?”

“Eh, we can work something ou-OOF!” Danny shouted, as Ember rose from the floor and slammed a cheese wedge hat onto his head, before flying away cackling. The halfa ripped the offending purple cheese from his head and took off after the rockstar, shouting threats of vengeance and waving the headgear vaguely.

Johnny smirked at the display, Ember always just a little ahead of Phantom, the ghost boy not quite hiding his grin as he attempted to force the fashion disaster even by sport standards atop her. Kitty sidled up beside him to watch the pair as well.

“What’s up with them?” She inquired.

“Ah, just Phantom telling me his head problems, then Ember decided to make him wear dairy. I’m surprised they’re only messing with each other like that. Kinda figured they’d be more…”

“Hostile?”

“Yeah, that,” Johnny replied, mentally erasing ‘face-punchy’ from his vocabulary. “He better hope Ember _doesn’t_ get like that right now. Dude’s messed himself up, his heads human, the rest of him’s normal, so he can only do ghost stuff with one or the other.”

“Pft. Only Danny,” Kitty giggled.

Then her eyes shot open and she span around to look at the pair, or specifically Danny’s head, more closely. Her face scrunched in thought, and she began to poke her own cheek purposefully.

Johnny didn’t have the first idea what she was figuring out, and all he could think was he was the luckiest man in the Zone with how cute she looked right now.

* * *

“Ah, and here we see an earlier example of the artists work. What do you think, Ms. Kitty?” Danny asked, affecting the snootiest possible accent, gesturing disdainfully at the painting hanging on the wall of their latest conquered floor. This one was of a medieval forge, the blacksmith hard at work hammering something into shape.

The blacksmith, of course, was the familiar figure of Vlad, hammer in hand and sweat pouring from his brow. His expression somehow managed to look both struggling and smarmy, which was impressive in its own way.

“Oh, well,” Kitty replied, tapping her finger on her lips in faux thought. “It’s at least a better composition than the previous piece, but the brush work is inferior and once again, the subject matter leaves much to be desired. Why the artist insisted on this unappealing model in all their work, I don’t know.”

“Hmmm. And your thoughts, Ms. McLain?”

“It is,” Ember declared haughtily, in the upper-class British voice Danny was swiftly discovering was her favourite, “an absolute travesty. It makes one weep for the state of modern art. Remove it at once.”

“Very well,” Danny said gravely. “Mr. 13, if you would?”

“… You guys have the weirdest idea of fun, you know that?” Johnny deadpanned, taking the painting from the wall and flipping it in his hands a few times.

“Well, if you keep that attitude up, you’ll never make it as an art critic,” Ember grinned. “Now – PULL!”

Johnny hurled the painting like a frisbee towards the centre of the now mostly destroyed office space. The three critics of the demolition crew raised their hands, ectoblasts erupting from them, impacting the painting mid-flight and blowing it apart in a burst of multi-coloured explosions. Chunks of the frame scattered around the room, and the painting itself vaporised under their combined impact. High fives were spread out liberally amongst the four as they cheered.

“Oh man, I dunno why watching these things explode is so satisfying,” Johnny sniggered.

“’Cause screw Plasmius?” Ember offered.

“Yeah, screw that power hungry old fruitloop!” Kitty exclaimed.

“Well, I think it might be because we’re taking mediocre artwork depicting a deeply flawed man, and creating a single instant of beauty from it, unwitnessed by any but ourselves, a unique moment in time,” Danny said sagely. After a moment of silence, he noticed everyone staring at him, mouths agog. “What, are we done with the art critic bit?”

“No, it’s just that was… actually a little profound,” Ember opined, a thoughtful expression on her face. “You’re freaking me out, baby pop.”

“Guess I’d better say something stupid then. Uh, because imagining his ridiculous hairstyle exploding is the next best thing to actually taking a razor to it?”

“There we go,” Kitty breathed, relieved. “You had me worried there, Danny.”

“… You guys do all know I’m not actually an idiot, I just like to have fun, right?”

“Sure. We believe you,” Ember said, with a sincerity so pure it was clearly fake.

“I’m hurt but unsurprised,” Danny rolled his eyes, the slight grin on his face mirrored by the other three. “Come on, you pack of ingrates. Only a floor or two to go until the grand finale!”

* * *

“Dipstick, you do _not_ get to call dibs on this _,”_ Ember grumbled, her arms folded.

“Yeah, Phantom,” Johnny chimed in, his expression annoyed. “It’s the piece de thingy of the whole building! If you told us we could only smash one thing before we brought it down, it’d be this!”

“C’mon, Danny,” Kitty pleaded, her arms clasped in front of her. “It’s gonna be _so good_ to break that monster apart. Please?”

Danny pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He really ought to have established his claim on the statue before any of this got going.

They were near enough done – every floor above them was an absolute mess, looking like a hurricane had gone through it. Well, at least one floor had a firestorm instead. Putting Ember on a spinning chair and throwing her through the room, hair blasting in every direction, that was a fun one.

Oh, there was the other one that had a very localised blizzard too. Chairs and furniture frozen and shattered like glass by Johnny ramming his bike into them. A shame they didn’t have more elements to call on, but Danny supposed fire and ice were the fun ones for this kind of work.

But this had led to the ground floor, and the awful, awful statue, the giant black stone monstrosity that took up the lions share of the lobby. Vlad, literally holding the building up. The pretention of it set everyone’s teeth on edge.

Which was, of course, part of the problem now.

“Because for the last year I’ve had to fly past this building and see that obnoxious statue every time I did,” Danny argued. “You can’t imagine the amount of times I’ve imagined taking a wrecking ball to it. I _need_ to trash this flipping thing. Besides, he was _my_ archnemesis. That means I get dibs.”

He did _not_ whine as he said that, no matter what Ember later claimed.

“Like fun it does!” Johnny interrupted. “He tried to blackmail the world, he’s everyone’s archnemesis!”

“Oh, so he punched _you_ in the face for amusement, then?” Danny retorted.

“’Sides, my whole beef is with jerks like him,” Ember shot back, ignoring Danny. “Only thing I hate more than apathetic adults are cruel ones. I got an ideological reason to wanna break it in two.”

“Good grief, you know a word like ideological?”

“Baby pop, I will hurt you.”

“Besides!” Kitty jumped in, forestalling any more banter. “You already beat him! He’s in space, you’re here! You won! Don’t need to smash up a statue for that!”

Danny winced a little. Was he really being so transparent that Kitty could pick up on why he really wanted to solo this one? A quick glance at Ember, her head tilted towards Kitty and her eyebrows arched in agreement, told him he probably was. Darn.

“I _never_ beat Vlad,” Danny sighed, quietly. “Not in a way that mattered, anyway.”

“Well, that can’t be true, you’re still walking around,” Johnny said, confused.

He shrugged. “I helped stop a few of his plans, sure, pulled a few victories here and there. Messed with his goals, his stuff, but I never shut him down completely and I _never_ did it without help. Heck, I only survived as long as I did because he _wanted_ me alive. And in the end, I didn’t beat him. He got rid of himself by overreaching like he did.”

The penny finally dropped for Johnny. “So, this thing,” he said, gesturing to the Atlas-statue, “is, what, closure to you?”

“Something like that. Maybe? I don’t really know,” Danny replied, scratching the back of his head. “I guess it’s more… He hung over my family’s head so long and I couldn’t change that. But I _can_ get rid of this statue. That’ll do.”

Johnny nodded, slowly. “OK. I can kinda get that.”

“Yeah.” Kitty agreed. “But why by yourself? The way I hear it, these days you’re never patrolling by yourself much anyway. You’re either with your folks, your two friends or crazy red. There’s nothing wrong with leaning on other people!”

“Yeah, I’d be lost without Kitty some days.” Kitty turned and gave Johnny a look. He held his hands up in defeat. “Fine, fine. Most days. Point is, we can all be the wrecking ball on this, little man. Don’t need to do things by yourself.”

Ember didn’t say a word. Just looked at Danny, a look in her eyes that said volumes. Practically screaming at him “ _I already know you don’t_ want _to do this alone, stop with the hang ups.”_

Kitty mentally tallied the fourth such look she’d seen tonight, along with Danny’s brief deflating and wry grin in response, and added it to other details she’d figured out over the course of destruction:

_They’ve got some kind of deal going on, it’s been running for a month, maybe less, he’s been to her realm at least once, probably more if he’s fine with going there messed up, and they’re managing to communicate without talking, which means they’re closer than they’re letting on. But what deal? What’re they doing?_

_… Was I right the first time? Secret love affair! So… juicy!_

Of course, she didn’t let any of this show on her face, just looked at Danny with pleading eyes. She really, really wanted to punch that statue.

“Not a bad argument,” Danny smirked. “Or is it just an excuse to talk me into letting you join?”

“We can do two things, baby pop,” Ember grinned. “Who said we can’t?”

“Fine, I’ll give into peer pressure just this once,” Danny said, to Kitty’s beaming smile and Johnny’s pumped fist.

“Alright!” The ghost biker cried, before staring up at the statue as if noticing it for the first time. “Uh. How exactly are we gonna do this, anyhow?”

“Oh, trust me, I’ve come up with half a dozen ways to break this thing,” Danny replied, a mischievous grin on his face. “Help is only gonna save my knuckles.”

Danny’s plan was fool proof. But then, it’s a plan for defeating a motionless statue when all four of them had enough strength to break walls with their bare hands, and what were basically lasers built into them. If, _somehow,_ he couldn’t come up with something workable, it would call his intelligence into question more than his usual antics already do, as Ember wasted no time in telling him after he’d laid out how this would go.

One brief set of volleying insults later, Danny slammed his palm onto one of the elbows of the statue, frost spreading from his hand as that portion of it became cold and brittle as he fired a blue beam at the opposing appendage. The obsidian black Vlad creaked a little, the noise its only protest to what followed – namely, Kitty launching herself full force into the air and swinging a kick that shattered the frozen stone, showering the ground in dark stone. Johnny did the same on the other side, his bike rearing in mid-air to strike the inside of the arm.

Danny dropped, landing in front of the statue and launching icy streams at both the knees this time, before stopping and firing the same at the neck of the thing while Ember ran forward, guitar held up like an axe above her. She brought it crashing down on the left with a laugh, scattering it in all directions while her hair lashed out at the other, flame streaming hard into the right knee. It groaned as the temperature rapidly changed from freezing to near melting, then burst, unable to take the strain any further.

For his part, the ghost boy flew upwards at speed, and delivered a flying uppercut to the jaw of the statue, the frozen neck unable to hold under the force of the blow. The head flew upwards for a split-second before crashing to the ground, where Danny landed right next to it.

They’d agree to at least let him have the head. Seemed fair.

He picked up the head and threw it in the air experimentally a few times. Having super strength was always a blast, especially when it let him juggle the stone head of the most hated man the world over that should weigh twice as much as he does, at minimum. As the others gathered around, he shot them a grin, and hurled the head towards the rest of the body. At his shout, everyone took aim and fired, ectoblasts converging on the head and torso, the multicoloured beams disintegrating what was left of the black stone in a blinding burst of energy.

“Ta ta, fruitloop!” Danny cried, joyfully, as the last remaining bits of the statue collapsed into debris.

“So long, you egotistical maniac!” Ember joined, laughing as she did.

“Man, that was good! You see the way it sorta crumbled” Johnny crowed, resting on the handlebars of his bike.

“That was _awesome!”_ Kitty enthused, before turning to Danny. “See, wasn’t that more fun?”

“You got me,” Danny chuckled. “It really was. I have to get over this ‘do as much alone as I can’ thing. It’s gonna be a problem one day.”

“Eh, you’ll get there,” Ember said, slapping his back and _not_ letting slip that it probably didn’t help that tendency that he felt he couldn’t confide in anyone. Well, except her, but whatever.

“Well, I’ll be,” Johnny said, mockingly. “Ember McLain, encouraging the dipstick. Didn’t think I’d see the day. Aww, has the date gone good then?”

“Shuddup, you greasy monkey, before I- “

_Crack._

The group collectively turned their heads to the ceiling at the noise. A spider-web of cracks rippled across the roof, small bits and pieces already falling from it as the damage spread, centring on…

On where the back of the statue was just a minute ago.

Danny had been in enough collapsing buildings to know what was about to happen, and he glared at the remains of the pitch-black Vlad.

 _Trust the fruitloop to make his ego statue actually load bearing!_ He groused internally, before there was a thundering rumble and the ceiling caved in, chunks of rubble and boulder sized concrete starting to descend.

Time slowed for Danny as he ran through his options.

He couldn’t fly out, not in time. Even at top speed, he wouldn’t make it past the door before he got hit. Ordinarily, he’d just phase his way through this, but hey, he had to be an all-around _idiot_ and get himself stuck halfway between ghost and human. His ghost half was more resilient, sure, but he really, really doubted it could take a building falling on it. But he knew for a fact his human head couldn’t.

This was such a _profoundly_ stupid way to die. He almost laughed.

Then he felt a pair of hands slap onto the sides of his head with a yell of “Gotcha, baby pop!” and felt the tingle he associated with intangibility in human form spread throughout it. He instantly turned his body intangible as the concrete came down around them to cacophonous crashing.

Under ideal circumstances, a falling building will drop within half a minute. However Vlad had managed it, whatever he’d built that statue out of, architectural laws he’d ignored or whatever bribes he’d handed out to be allowed to _do_ this in the first place, removing his blasted statue proved to be those ideal circumstances. The ultimate spoil sport counter to any threats to his stupid, stupid plan to relocate the Packers.

With much billowing dust and deafening peals of shattering glass, the last legal possession of Vlad Masters fell in on itself, floors cracking in half and already destroyed innards further obliterated. The vast glass windows splintered into thousands of tiny shards, showering down on the empty street, the high-pitched sound as they landed almost musical, before the rubble settled, the dust dispersed into the air, and all fell as quiet as it could.

And out of the remains, two figures floated, translucent as they phased their way through the debris. Ember released Danny’s head as they cleared it, both their figures solidifying and he span round, a look of shock infusing his expression.

“Ember! You… I…”

“I think the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you’, dipstick?” Ember teased, grinning at the speechless boy.

“I-Yes! That! Thank you, Ember, you just sav- “

“Ah, forget it,” Ember interrupted, waving him off. “I’ve still got entertainment value I can get out of you. Not gonna let that go to waste.”

Her words were at odds with the mile-wide smile she was giving off, which Danny returned as they both landed gently on the chunks of concrete.

“Glad to hear I’m good for something, then,” he quipped.

* * *

“Hey, Em?”

“Yeah, baby pop?”

“When’s the last time you played for an audience?”

He could feel Ember stiffen beside him as he asked the question.

They were both lying amidst the rubble, having decided to catch a breather for a few minutes. A few minutes turning into a few dozen minutes as the pair got to talking, Danny pointing out constellations and the meaning behind them. Ember did _not_ snigger at his Big Dipper joke, she swears.

They’d lost track of where Kitty and Johnny had gone, but Danny wasn’t too worried. They’d never been all that dangerous on a wider scale, and he figured even that would be a thing of the past fairly soon. He hoped so, anyway – he could see Johnny and Kitty becoming his friends if the agreement went well, and he’d liked their company tonight at least. Even if not, it was potentially one threat down long term. He liked it when he could manage that. It didn’t happen often enough for his liking.

And when the conversation had lapsed into a comfortable silence, Danny asked the question he’d been meaning to all night.

“… What do you mean, baby pop? You’ve been there for most of them,” she replied, a touch acerbic. Hoping to deflect, Danny reckoned.

“No,” he shook his head. “Not to brainwash, not as part of a plan. I mean just to perform.”

“What’s it to you?” Ember shot back, her tone rapidly shifting to irritated.

Danny winced. Oh, he’d need to be careful here. He was starting to feel a little of the old Ember coming back. The one that he’d trade banter with whilst trying to avoid getting his head caved in, rather than while laughing. He really didn’t miss that side of her.

“It’s just… something I noticed,” he said, sitting up and holding his hands in surrender. “Whenever you talked about your music, it was always the mind control, never the performing. Then I remembered I’d never seen you just play for an audience without that. I was wondering why.”

Ember didn’t answer, her head shifted away from Danny and her arms crossed. After a full minute of silence, Danny spoke up again.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I just… had an idea. Something that might help you in more than just the ‘feel better’ way than we’ve done up to now. But I’d need to know why you don’t play for it to work, and I won’t make you answer if you’re not comfortable telling me.”

More silence, before Ember breathed out a heavy sigh.

“I know you won’t, baby pop,” she muttered, quietly. “You never would. It’s why you’re so easy to talk to it makes me angry sometimes.”

“We can drop it if you- “Danny hastily added before he was interrupted.

“Not angry at you. At me. Sometimes I feel… weak, how easy I spill all this stuff to you.”

“Would it help if I told you about all the times before I had control of my powers and kept phasing out of my pants?”

Ember let loose a weak chuckle as she turned to face him, hand reaching out to shove his still-human head. “Yeah, ‘cause you’ve got _great_ control now, dipstick.”

Danny grinned back at her as she hauled herself up into a sitting position facing him. If there was one thing he’d learned about Ember, it’s that setting her up for a joke is one of the best ways to set her at ease. He wondered, idly, if Ember had picked up something similar about him.

They remained that way a while, eyes meeting for a few moments before they darted off to look at something else. Ember wrung her hands a little as she wrestled with herself. Eventually she dropped her hands into her lap.

“High school. There was a talent show. I figured, maybe if I showed everyone what I could do, they’d like me or be my friend. Instead I got laughed off the stage. I don’t know why I expected different.”

Danny made a sympathetic face. “Being lonely can make you think like that. I had Sam and Tucker and I still got hit with it a few times.”

“Yeah, well,” Ember continued. “When you get told your music sucks by everyone, then find out you can control people’s reaction to your sucky music with your new ghost powers…”

She made a circling motion with both hands, the end of that sentence perfectly clear to both of them.

Danny tilted his head quizzically. “But, uh… you don’t suck? At all? At least not from what I heard.”

Ember glared at him witheringly, batting his hand away from her shoulder. “Dipstick, I don’t need pity. ‘Sides, like you said, you’ve not seen me play outside stopping me trying to take over the world.”

“Not quite” Danny countered. “You’re missing two important little details.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yup. One, I’m immune to your mind control, so I’m pretty much the only person right now who _can_ judge your music without bias, and two, I already heard you play, back in the forest.”

“Well, whoopee,” Ember cried sarcastically. “It’s your pity against everyone else who’s heard it!”

“By everyone else, you mean the airheads, the jerks and the airheaded jerks who hated you, right? Why’re you listening to them?” he retorted. Ember looked away angrily, unwilling to concede the point. “And who said anything about pity? You sound great!”

If he had said that about anything else about her, he was sure she’d crow and strut and never let him hear the end of it. Instead he watched her face twist with complicated, clashing emotions, anger, fear and just a little gratification battling to express themselves.

Danny had figured he’d be stirring something up. Good thing he had a proposal.

“Tell you what,” he said. “You know I’m a terrible liar, right?”

Ember nodded her head, slowly, confused at the change of pace.

“So, if you played something right now, you’d be able to see what I really think.”

She froze up, the warring emotions playing about her face shunted aside as she peered closely at Danny, searching him almost fearfully for… if Danny were to guess, based on the grab bag of psychology he’d picked up, willingly or otherwise, from his sister, she was looking for any sign he didn’t mean it or was playing with her, so she could use it as an excuse.

Maybe this was a bad idea. He hadn’t really expected her to be _this_ insecure about her music. Ember was more hurt than she’d told even him.

Danny was about to speak up and call the whole thing off, when Ember’s eyes fell from his, focusing hard on the ground. She breathed out, and shrugged her shoulder, slinging her guitar around on its strap. He could _feel_ the nervous tension rolling off her in waves as she got her hands around the instrument, before turning to glare at him briefly. She said nothing, but the meaning was clear – don’t betray this frankly monumental show of trust.

The thought didn’t even occur to him. “Whenever you’re ready,” he said quietly, smiling what he really hoped was a reassuring smile.

With that, Ember brought her hand down on the strings.

The melody was slower than Danny was expecting, surprisingly mellow and melancholy. He thought he’d be getting the energy of her signature song. Then she began to sing, her voice low and husky and his brain more or less shut down.

_“As I walk in the dirty rain_

_Acid seeping through my brain_

_I'm never gonna crack_

_There can be no turning back”_

The song picked up pace, as Ember seemed to become more confident. Or maybe it was an intentional effect of the song? Was this one of hers? He couldn’t tell.

_“Water runs down the windowpane_

_As he sucks on a sugarcane_ _  
You can see it in my face  
Staring into outer space  
We're renegades!”_

Ember kept her eyes shut as she sang, the guitar and her voice growing louder. Danny stared as she continued, entirely riveted by the slow transformation of Ember before him. It was like watching a snake shed its skin, or a butterfly emerge from a cocoon.

Or… maybe more like the walls of a vault coming down, revealing the treasure within.

_“We belong in the gutter singing  
This song, all the bells are ringing  
Hey, yeah  
Hey, yeah_

_Hey, hey, hey  
Hey, hey, hey”_

Danny watched her fingers dance up the guitar, entranced. She was great, he knew she was, but that didn’t matter, not really. She could have been mediocre at best and he’d still think this is what she was made for, the one thing that would give her drive and purpose again. It was the look on her face. The nervousness had melted away as she lost herself in the song, her singing intense and focused, every inch of her dedicated to playing, performing, creating something unique and unrepeatable. Like the world was gone, and it was just her, her music and her audience of one. He’d never seen her look so… so happy, so _alive_ , so… so…

“ _Beautiful_ ,” he breathed, his voice lost beneath the music.

… Oh.

Oooooh.

 _Well,_ some absent corner of his mind noted. _That explains a lot._

_“And it feels like a dirty dream  
Like I'm walking to the guillotine  
Feel the voodoo in my brain  
Sipping on a hurricane_

_How's it feel to be a freak?  
Oh so pale and so unique  
To walk lonely in the rain  
Unashamed that we are not the same!”_

Why he felt more relaxed around Ember, and why he laughed more easily with her. Why he couldn’t help but fall into a rhythm whenever they were together. Why he kept thinking of her problems and how to solve them as best he could. Why everything felt better with her around.

Ah, _heck._

_“How does it feel to be alone?  
Set apart from all the clones  
We're the ones who can't be tamed  
Who go against the grain  
Alright!”_

The chorus came around again, Ember’s energy unfettered now as Danny wrestled with the onrushing tide of revelations watching her play had awakened in him. Ember… meant _far_ more to him than he’d realised. He knew Tucker and Sam still called him clueless now and then, and for once he had to agree. How had he not _noticed_ what this was? Was he even reading it right _now?_

… Questions for later. Tomorrow. He needed time to think, make sure of what he was feeling, and he especially couldn’t do that now. Not when Ember looked like _this_ and played like _that_ and oh, was this what his dad meant about watching his mom work?

 _“How does it feel to be a renegade?_ _  
We're condemned for we are not the same  
Visionaries in the cavalcade  
No we can't be tamed!”_

With one final flourish, Ember slammed her hand down on the strings for the final chord. It reverberated all throughout the rubble before falling silent.

“Well, dipstick? Do you get it no- “she stopped dead in her tracks, finally seeing Danny since she’d started strumming. He was right, he was terrible at lying. So, either he’d been faking that this whole time, or he really was exactly as delighted and excited as he seemed.

“Ember that was incredible!” He gushed, immediately. “Who the heck told you you sucked?! They’re absolute _idiots!_ Was that your own song? It sounded great!”

“I-I… yeah, i-it’s one of mine,” Ember stammered, completely thrown. She hadn’t expected… this. Any of this. “Did… you really like it?”

“Like it? Ember, I _loved_ it! I’m still so caught up in how good that was I can’t even bring myself to tease you about the stammering!”

Ember drew herself together with visible effort, still startled. “Well…. Good. I’m glad.”

Danny took notice of the uncertainty in her voice, deciding to tone himself down a little. There _was_ such a thing as overburdening someone with praise. “Seriously. I don’t know what kind of problem your set of jerks had with you, but they were wrong. They usually are.”

Ember smiled, ruefully. “Thanks, but it’s still just you, baby pop.”

“And Star,” he reminded her. Ember’s eyes widened before she shrugged.

“I… guess,” she conceded, the words needing to be dragged out of her kicking and screaming.

“She gave me the idea, honestly,” Danny said, scratching the back of his head. “Star’s still a fan, in spite of it all. Which got me wondering if there’s more.” He took a deep breath, before ploughing forward. “Ember, I can get you a gig in Amity. No powers, nothing like that. Just you.”

“I- you- what?!”

“Probably not anything big,” he continued, hoping to at least get the details out before her shock wore off. “But I can get you on stage again, and you won’t need to brainwash a soul to do it.”

“Baby pop!” Darn it, she pulled herself together quicker than he thought she would. “Are you nuts?! What cockamamie venue’s gonna put me up, with all I’ve pulled?!”

He shrugged, letting a cocky smirk show on his otherwise excited face. “They will do if I say I’ll be there to stop anything dangerous. Perks of being a hero, people listen when you tell them stuff like that.”

Ember stayed silent, periodically plucking at the strings of the guitar. “I don’t know, Danny,” she eventually replied, quietly. “I’m not- “

“Em,” Danny interrupted, putting his hand on her shoulder. She stared from it to him, lost. “This whole truce got started because you said you didn’t know what to do. Well, I just watched you play your heart out for _one_ person, and I can tell you – _this_ is what you’re meant to do.”

Obviously, Danny thought, what he was seeing wasn’t an Ember struggling to hold back tears, whatever variety they may be, and saying that it was out loud was as likely to get his head blown off as anything else.

“… I’ll think about it,” she said, before turning her head towards him, a small, sweet smile on her face. “Wanna hear another one?”

“Heck yeah!”

And as Ember began to play again to Danny’s delight, some small distance away, a pair of red eyes watched the two and how they looked at each other, and came to a decision.

 _That tears it,_ Kitty thought, _me and Ember are gonna have a ‘talk’ about her little secret tomorrow._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Main event in more ways than one, I suppose.
> 
> Yeah, sorry this one's later than I'd hoped. My life got absurdly busy, and I don't know why this chapter in particular was an absolute slog, but it was. Ah well, next couple should be easier!
> 
> Song is Renegade Cavalcade by Ash, which I used for three reasons: First, I cannot write songs to save my life, so I'll be using Ash songs as substitutes for Ember coming up with her own stuff. Two, I love that band. And three, go listen to at least Clones, Meltdown and Orpheus and tell me they don't sound like something Ember would come out with.]
> 
> I appreciate immensely any comments given, they give my brain the old dopamine hit!


	14. Girl Talk

Johnny slammed his head into the table hard and groaned. He hated having to write.

“Trust Phantom to give me homework all over again,” he muttered.

Danny, his head and his body matched up this time, had shown up at their realm pretty early that morning, so early that Johnny still hadn’t gotten all the rubble out of his bike from the night before. That anytime before noon qualified as early for Johnny was neither here nor there. Johnny had squared up immediately, before remembering that they were kinda, sorta alright with Phantom now? Leastways, Kitty had said don’t hit him next time you see him, which probably counted. No sense in instantly decking their ticket to the human world.

Turns out that was a good call. Danny was just dropping off some stuff for them – namely, a pair of phones, so they could get in contact with him when they wanted a date night, and some rules they’d have to follow when they did, before taking off with a wave which Johnny returned. Maybe he could get to liking the squirt. Who knew?

Honestly, none of the rules were too bad. It was pretty much just don’t hurt anyone, trash anything or steal, none of which they were super inclined to do anyway. He didn’t even try to stop crazy stunts or anything like that, ‘cause it wasn’t like they could really hurt themselves too bad that way, he’d said. Might make dinner dates or the like more awkward, nobody except Ember was really swimming in real world money, but eh, they can talk about that when he and Kitty wanna do ‘em again.

The one big one, though, was a condition they’d have to fulfil before any of it could go off – they’d have to apologise to Phantom’s sister for the whole possession thing.

Kitty had talked on and off about wanting to do that before, and Johnny couldn’t say he didn’t feel guilty about it. But he was gonna lose his Kitten! He had to do _something_.

Whatever. Apologising was probably the right thing to do or some junk. And he was glad Danny had recommended writing a note before showing up in person. This’d be easier to do if they didn’t have to just turn up and hope she didn’t blast them immediately. And blasting was his _preferred_ option, ‘cause then things got awkward instead.

That, however, had been an hour and a half ago now, a very painful hour and a half of many bits of torn up paper. Words were not Johnny’s forte, especially one’s where he had to actually express at least a little of what he actually felt. He’d do it eventually, he knew, but he couldn’t find the words that sounded like he meant it. And to his surprise he _did_ mean it.

He wished Kitty were here. She’d hopped off not all that long after Phantom left, wanting to go have a word with Ember. She’d told him some hunch she had that Ember and Danny were more involved with each other than they were letting on and she wanted to go grill Ember for a bit to see what happened. Johnny couldn’t really see it, however friendlier the two had been last night, but Kitty always got a bee in her bonnet about romance, hers or anyone else’s. What was it she’d said when he’d said Ember probably wouldn’t talk even if it was true? Oh yeah.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” she’d said, a determined set to her eyes. “I’ve got ways to _make_ Ember talk.”

* * *

“Tell me.”

“No.”

“Tell me!”

“No.”

“I’m your friend!”

“No.”

“Come on!”

“Alright.”

“Really?”

“No.”

Kitty let out a scream of frustration and dropped into Ember’s couch pit face down, as the diva looked at her with amusement. That exchange was how things had gone since she’d arrived in Ember’s realm not five minutes ago, Kitty throwing wild accusations at her friend about her and Danny and demanding the truth, Ember just flatly denying all of it.

“I _know_ there’s more going on with you and Danny! He’s your secret boyfriend!” she cried, her voice muffled by the cushions, _painfully_ aware she was doing this wrong somehow. How did the detectives in those paperbacks manage to make this look easy? Maybe there was a reason all those interrogation scenes didn’t just cut to the chase like she thought they should.

“Me and the dipstick?” Ember scoffed, floating gracefully into the pit opposite Kitty. “Last night was a one off, girlfriend. Hadn’t even seen him for a year before that.”

“Liiiiiiiiiiiiies!” Kitty screamed into the cushion, before falling still. OK, no, this isn’t working. Ember isn’t just going to cave when faced with the truth, which Kitty was very sure she had, and she’d been famous, however briefly – she’d know how to deal with persistence. She’d have to come at this a different way.

Ember shrugged, not bothering to keep the smirk from her face. “Eh, he was an alright date, I suppose, but he gave me a building to topple. Even he couldn’t mess that up.”

Different angle, Kitty pondered. OK, OK, they made it look easy, but what did those detectives actually _do_?

Build up to the questions, let the suspects bury themselves in lies before you prove otherwise, insinuate things, not just shouting guesses and hunches. Alright. She _has_ plenty of evidence to hammer Ember with, what do we start with?

Aha. In order, of course.

Kitty raised her head from the cushion it had been buried in and looked at Ember. “Actually, speaking of Danny, where’s that fake head gone?”

Ember blinked, the change of subject surprising her. “What, the trashcans therapy project? I put it away, it didn’t work with the room, like you said.”

“Oh. Can I see it?” Kitty asked, innocent as anything. Ember momentarily froze, before waving a hand.

“I dunno where I stashed the thing, I just chucked it at the wall and let my realm eat it.”

“Well, yeah, but it’s your realm. You can just find it, right?”

“… I might have thrown it in the garbage, instead. Can’t remember,” Ember replied, nonchalantly. Seeming nonchalant, anyway. “Why do you want it, anyway?”

“I just wanted to see how it compared now I’ve seen Danny up close again. Weird coincidence though, right?” Kitty said, smiling.

“What is?”

“Oh, you know,” Kitty threw out casually. “Danny manages to make his head human and his body ghost, can only phase one or the other and can’t turn it off, and the same day he does that, you find a replica head of _human_ Danny and decide to put it up. Strange!”

That did the trick. Kitty could feel the mood of the room change at her implication. Ember was still smirking, putting up the front of amusement at her accusation, but something in the rock stars manner shifted in a heartbeat. She felt tense.

Kitty grinned. OK, _now_ she was getting somewhere. Thank you, Raymond Chandler!

“Eh, that’s just the dipsticks entire life, right? One bit of random ridiculousness after another,” Ember shrugged.

“That’s true! Speaking of which,” Kitty put her finger to her chin, getting into her stride. “How’d he talk you into the whole ‘trash Plasmius’ building’ thing?”

“It was, like, the first thing he said to me when I tried to run interference for you. He wanted that thing _so_ gone, figured I’d want in.” You’d have to know Ember pretty well to recognise that she was squirming, just a little. Kitty knew her _very_ well.

“Really? ‘Cause he told me and Johnny he wanted to get us to do it because he thought we’d be up for it without trying to kill him after. Why’d he ask you? You shouldn’t exactly be in his good graces.” Ember’s silence was deafening. “Huh. So, you both waited for me and Johnny to finish up the rest of our date?”

“Yeah, well, that was on baby pop. He wanted you guys to have your fun before springing the bonus on you.”

“Sweet of him,” Kitty mused, her mind suddenly registering that for ‘baby pop’ to sound anything like the insult it was originally intended to be, it would need a lot more mockery than Ember had been putting into it. Without that, it was just a pet name. “So, what did you two do in the meantime?”

“… what do you mean?”

“Well, there was, what, a few hours between when I asked you to distract him and the pair of you showing up. If it was the first thing he said, what did you do ‘till you ran into us? Get nice and cosy with each other?”

“No!” Ember shouted, façade cracking. “Kitty, we’re not dating or anything like that! Jeez, what gave you that idea anyway?!”

“You must’ve gotten pretty comfy in some way,” Kitty ploughed forward, ignoring Ember’s question – she was saving her answer to _that_ one for last. “Enough that he didn’t flinch when you walked up to him and swiped that ugly wig off his head, but Johnny holding out a fist gets him jumpy.”

You could have heard a pin drop. Well, Kitty reflected, probably not in Ember’s living room, it was all plush blue flame carpet and couch pit, too soft for a pin to make a noise but still, the spirit of the phrase was there. Ember’s face had adopted a scowl, the amused disdain she’d be been projecting gone now as she stayed silent.

“Do you want more?” Kitty asked brightly, breaking the silence. “’Cause I’ve got more! Or you could just tell me what’s going on right now, so I can skip straight to gushing about how cute you two are already.”

Ember didn’t answer, averting her eyes from Kitty’s. The green haired ghost shrugged and stood up, making for the door.

“Fine then. Guess I’ll go ask Danny. Guys like to brag about hot girlfriends, and he can’t dodge a question to save his life at the best of times anyway.”

“Wait!” Kitty could hear Ember scrambling to her feet behind her. “Don’t- “

“Oh, yeah, good point!” Kitty turned and pulled out the new Fenton phone Danny had given her, waving it beside her face. “I can just call him, no need to travel anymore! You got one of these, Em? He dropped it off for me this morning.”

“He- What did he give _you_ one for?” Ember asked, more forcefully than before. Kitty would freely admit she was laser-focused on the notion that Ember and Danny were secretly dating, but even taking that into account, that sounded enough like jealousy to her that she was counting it.

“Oh, don’t worry, your man got one for Johnny as well, it’s so we can let him know when it’s date night. Came with his number and everything,” she replied as she idly opened up the contacts. “Here, lemmie show you.”

“Kitty, you _can’t- “_

“No, Ember, I don’t _want_ to. I’d prefer it if my best friend told me what was going on,” Kitty rejoined. “But if you _won’t_ tell me, I have to go to the only other person who does know.”

Kitty glared at Ember, her finger hovering over the call button. Ember’s eyes flicked between Kitty’s and the finger before her frown split into a snarl.

“Fine!” she spat, gesturing back into the pit. “Sit back down.”

Kitty skipped back to the couch and leapt in, bouncing as she landed. She folded her legs underneath her and stared happily and expectantly at Ember as she slipped into the pit sullenly. Kitty wasn’t fazed by her temper – towards friends, Ember was all bark and no bite. Well, not much bite.

“We’re not dating,” Ember declared after a few moments silence. “Put the phone away, I’m telling the truth!”

Kitty lowered her new device warily.

“The truth is…” Ember started, before hesitating, trying to find the right way to explain everything. “OK. You know after the dipstick saved the world, I tried to tell you… what was going on with me? Why I hadn’t bothered hitting the human world in a while?”

“… Yeah,” Kitty replied. “You said you didn’t have any good idea of what to do there since everything else felt wrong, right?”

Ember winced, slightly. “Close enough. Well, about a month ago now, I went over. I was trying to clear my head, visit old spots, see if I could get some inspiration from them. It… didn’t pan out, and I wound up venting in the woods a little.”

Crying her eyes out, Kitty mentally corrected. She was still sure she hadn’t quite understood what had been eating away at Ember the past year or so, try though she might, but she doubted her ‘venting’ was so different from when she was alone or with someone she trusted.

“Anyway, the dipstick found me during all that. I might have kinda blasted him before he could talk, but eventually he told me he just wanted to help.”

“And you just bought that?” Kitty interrupted, skepticism laced in her voice.

“When he turned human to prove it? Yeah. Difficult not to when he makes himself an easy target to get me to simmer down. We got to talking, he turned off his ear radio thing so nobody else could hear and I just… spilled everything. How I… died, and why, and all the problems since.”

“It took me like a year to get all that out of you! You know you’re not helping me thinking you guys are going out, right?” Kitty smirked as Ember scowled at her.

“It’s not like that! You know the dipstick, he’s a goody goody. He wouldn’t stop until he knew everything if he thought I needed help, I figured I’d save myself the trouble” Ember grumbled. “But when I was done, he… well, he got it. Really, truly got it.”

She’s hiding something there, but what? He confessed something similar, Kitty guessed, although that was a guess she was very unsure of. What kind of doubts could Danny have, after all? Didn’t really matter to what she wanted to know, her hunch told her, but still. Curious.

“He basically offered to help me out however he could. It started out just being someone who I could talk to and try to make me feel better, but it kind of… escalated. Baby pop really doesn’t have a sense of when to stop when it comes to cheering someone up.”

Speaking of things that only encourage Kitty’s conclusion of secret lovers, had Ember ever looked quite so tender talking about _anyone_ else? If she had, Kitty had never seen it.

“So, we’ve been hanging out now and then, talking a lot, mostly on this,” Ember continued, pulling her own phone out to show Kitty. “He even got his friends to agree to let me come along to play a game with them. It’s… helped. And yeah, he was here when you showed up, wanted to watch a TV show with me. Idiot decided to show me his lazy Halloween costume and couldn’t change back.”

“… And he stuck his head on the wall when I arrived because?” Kitty asked.

“Didn’t have anywhere to hide, really. I hit him for it, but I can’t think of anything better even now. In any case, he figured his parents wouldn’t go easy on you two, and we didn’t want to stop hanging out, so trashing Vlad’s place it was. Now I owe him twice over…” Ember grumbled and breathed a surly sigh, fixing Kitty with a glare. “That’s it, that’s everything.”

Kitty returned a skeptical eyebrow. “You sure that’s everything? Not leaving anything out?”

“No, I’m not leaving anything out!” Ember fumed, throwing her hands up in the air. “Jeez, to hear you talk we spent the whole time sneaking away from you and the bad luck charm to make out, or read poetry to each other, or- “

“Serenade him with your guitar?” Kitty snarked.

Oh. Uh, that one might have actually been a mistake. Ember looked less annoyed and more actually angry now, staring daggers at the biker ghost, her hair flaring and flickering at random. Kitty gulped.

“That,” she intoned icily, “was _private,_ Kitty. That was just for the dipstick, and you have the _nerve_ to admit you spied on-”

“I wasn’t trying to spy on you!” Kitty shouted, waving her arms in as placating a manner as she could. Ember hadn’t ever had cause to turn her anger on Kitty, but she’d seen the aftermath of her and Skulker’s break-up. She liked her bones unscorched if that were at all possible. “I was just looking for the two of you! I saw you get to Danny before the building collapsed, but I wanted to make sure you were both alright! I just happened to walk in on… that…”

Kitty shrank before Ember’s unwavering glare and sputtering fire before her resolve stiffened. Darn it, Sam Spade wouldn’t back down and neither will she.

“Look, I’m sorry, I really am,” Kitty said, looking Ember in the eye. “I didn’t mean to walk in on your moment, and I didn’t stay for longer than a minute.” Ember relented, just a touch, so Kitty pushed on. “But I _saw_ the way you were both looking at each other! So don’t sit there and tell me he’s just helping out!”

“That _is_ all it is, you dipstick! It’s never going to _be_ anything more than that!”

“Oh, come on!” Kitty cried, exasperated. “I think I saw him figure it out! He was looking at you like Johnny looks at me! If even the clueless wonder can see what you two are, then…”

Wait. Wait, wait, wait.

The gears in Kitty’s head whirred, overclocking themselves. What was that Ember just said? No, what had she _failed_ to say this entire time? That last bit was just the clincher. How had she missed that?

“If Danny of all people can tell he’s got it bad for you, there’s no way you don’t already know, is there?” Kitty queried, her voice quieter. “But this entire time, you’ve not once tried to tell me you don’t feel that way about him. If you didn’t, you’d have said so, or found some way to shut me down before now. You might not be together, but you _want_ to be, don’t you?”

Ember’s glare subsided, and she looked to the side, avoiding Kitty’s eye. Her body practically vibrated with tension, every part of her trembling, although with _what,_ rage, frustration, sadness, Kitty couldn’t tell any more. Maybe she was pushing too hard now, getting her too agitated but…

“Ember- “

“ **Fine!** ” Ember exploded, her hair following suit, rampaging to the ceiling as the diva shot to her feet and glowered at her friend, who recoiled at the sudden outburst. “ _Maybe_ baby pop’s always been cute! _Maybe_ watching him charge in to fight Pariah Dark with nothing but a suit of armour that was _killing him_ got him my respect!”

Ember advanced slowly to Kitty’s sitting position, fury crumbling the more she spoke. “And yeah, _maybe_ dropping every guard he’s got against someone who’s given him nothing but trouble just to help made me look at him differently! _Maybe_ seeing him fight my corner with his own _friends_ just to give me a nice day and make me feel less alone was more than nearly anyone else has ever done for me!”

Kitty looked up at the face of her ranting friend, any fear bleeding away at the look on Ember’s face. It was trying to remain angry, but it was losing the battle with the expression of heartbreak creeping its way on there. “A-and maybe I’ve never clicked with _anyone_ like I have with baby pop, m-maybe he’s the only person who ever thought my music was worth something on its own, maybe everything just feels... _better_ with him around… but even _if_ that were true, none of it matters, Kitty.”

“It’s _all_ that matters, Ember! How can you- “

“Where’s Wulf?”

Kitty stopped short at Ember’s sudden question, her rehearsed speech on the power of love dying on her lips. Darn it, she’d worked hard on that. “Um… Lake Eerie, right?”

“Yeah. And why’s he there, instead of anywhere in the Zone?”

“Because- “Kitty began, before she saw where Ember was going with this. And worse, she didn’t really have an answer to it. “Because he’s got a huge bounty on his head, and even if he didn’t, helping Danny made him more enemies than he could shake a paw at,” Kitty replied, quietly, as she searched for any way out of this tiny, insignificant, _massive_ problem she’d overlooked.

“Right,” Ember continued, sitting down heavily on the edge of the couch pit next to Kitty, her eyes firmly on the ground and her voice dull. “And the same thing’s gonna happen to me if anyone figures out I’m dating the dipstick. It’ll be painting a target on both our backs, Walker’ll probably put up an even bigger prize for me. Not to mention I’ll get myself kicked out of here, at minimum.”

She gestured all around them unenthusiastically.

“There’s no way Danny would let that happen!” Kitty protested.

“He can’t be here all the time, Kitty. And even if he could, I don’t wanna be another burden to him. He’s got enough of those without needing me _relying_ on him like I’m some helpless waif,” Ember returned, some spark of pride returning to her voice. “I’m not being Technus or whoever else’s bargaining chip to get at Danny, either _._ And don’t tell me they wouldn’t try it.”

“You… you could move! Princess Dora and Frostbite can get away with being friends with Danny! You could stay with them!” Kitty was aware this sounded somewhat desperate and impractical, but she hated seeing her friend this… despondent over not getting a boy. That said boy was technically an enemy didn’t matter much. She never thought she’d see it with Ember, honestly.

“Yeah, ‘cause they have _armies_ ,” Ember snorted. “I don’t think fire core plus Far Frozen really works. And I am _not_ learning the lute to fit in with Dora’s Kingdom. Where else could I go? Staying with you would just drag you in as well, Penny would be first in line to rip off my head and I’m not gonna shack up with Phantom _that_ quick, even if his family would let me. And let’s be real, why would they? Besides, why should I uproot my whole life just because I was an idiot and… and picked up feelings for the worst possible person? Do you think Danny would want that either?”

Kitty didn’t reply. Mostly because she had a point. If Danny thought being with her publicly would cause her that much trouble, or cause her to lose her home…

Wait, publicly!

“So, do what I thought was going on anyway!” Kitty shouted. “Just go out with Danny secretly!”

“‘Cause that’ll work,” Ember chuckled mirthlessly. “We’re not the best at this subterfuge stuff. You rumbled us both in an evening, and we’re not even actually dating!”

“Ah, but _now_ you’ve got my help to cover it up!” Kitty enthused. Oh, _this_ could work! “Look, you said yesterday you wanted my help for something. Was it something to do with paying him back, like you said?”

“… yeah,” Ember replied cautiously. “October is a real bad time for baby pop. I was wondering if you could wrangle something so he could get a day off.”

“I think I might be able to get ya more than that, girlfriend!” Kitty cried, her excitement building. She might get to play _matchmaker,_ this is _better_ than detective! “I’m gonna need a few days prep time to be sure, but I’ll get you _better_ than just a day off! I can get you some time together where it won’t look weird to anyone!”

“You… you’re sure you can pull that off?” Ember said, hesitantly but Kitty could tell she was warming to the idea. “You know what’s gonna happen if we get caught…”

“Trust me,” the green haired girl smiled, reassuringly. “ _Nobody’s_ gonna look twice at you at this one. Everyone else will be too busy having _fun_ and you two can talk it all out like a proper couple!”

“I mean… Assuming Danny even feels the same,” Ember near-whispered, eyes downcast. “You don’t know for sure- ow!”

“I will flick you again if you doubt me, woman!” Kitty declared, middle finger pressed against her thumb in warning. “I will get you two together if it’s the last thing I do in this afterlife!”

“Flick me again and it _will_ be,” Ember warned, but it was belied by the smirk she had. “So, what’s your idea, then?”

Ember watched fondly as her friend detailed her plan. If she could pull it off, it’d be a heck of a night even without talking to baby pop.

It probably wouldn’t work. She didn’t know if Danny even felt that way, no matter how sure Kitty was, and even if he did, there was a lot in the way besides. Maybe more than he’d feel like dealing with just to be with someone like her. She knew from experience that she wasn’t worth the effort.

But for now, she’d listen, and let hope spark. It was a nice feeling, even if it was just for a while.

* * *

The doorbell at the Foley home rang twice, in the late afternoon. Not exactly an unusual occurrence – with the youngest member of the family being both the mayor and Danny Phantom’s sideki- _partner_ , it was in fact normal to get several people at the door all at once. A lot of cranks, fans and general bothers, sometimes something actually important.

It was seldom Danny Phantom himself, though.

Tucker blinked in surprise at the sight of his friend standing in his doorway, expression sheepish as he rubbed at his white hair – he’d flown here, evidently.

“Hey, Tuck,” he began, nerves all over his face. “I, um. I need some advice. Girl advice, I mean.”

Tucker blanched, a little. This had better not be going where he thought it might be.

“Sure thing, man,” he replied jovially, keeping his fears to himself. “Sam? Valerie? Oh, maybe Star?”

Danny shook his head, and Tucker groaned.

Sam was going to kill him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t worry, we’re not getting Guy Talk next. Suffice to say, they end up covering much of the same ground as Kitty and Ember. Well, with one notable exception, but we’ll get to that next chapter.
> 
> Astonishing how much the internet being down assists your productivity when it comes to writing, isn’t it? Maybe memes are a scheme by aliens to make us all waste our time.
> 
> Thing I’m Oddly Proud Of: I do rather enjoy the image of Kitty face down on a couch screaming lies.
> 
> Do drop a comment and let me know what you think!
> 
> EDIT ON 26/08: An update deleted my work so far, I am _livid _. Shouldn't take me long to rewrite, but cursed computers.__


	15. Paypack: Party Till You Drop

Danny stared ahead of him, dumbfounded. When his parents had told him there was a massive concentration of ectoplasmic energy in the cemetery, this wasn’t on his list of expectations.

Curiously enough, a fight was _not_ on the list, and thankfully given the way the rest of this month had gone. It was one of those taboo’s shared by all ghosts – you do not fight where the dead are honoured. Ever. There were _no_ exceptions to this. Even _Skulker_ once paused a finishing blow because the fight had taken them to the top of a monument. It was one of those rules everyone knew and followed. Well, except him, Danny usually only found out about these taboo’s when he broke them accidentally and got half the Ghost Zone on his behind until he managed to make amends.

Still, there were a lot of things it could be – a mass haunting of the place was uncommon but plausible, and definitely more probable on Halloween. They were akin to ghostly flash mobs, they’d discovered, a way to have some fun with a group in the real world. Disturbed burial sites was perhaps less likely, but still an option available – enough shifting of gravesites might cause an uprising of angry spirits. Then there was the classic, dumb kids deciding to do the traditional spooky Halloween thing, and perform a ritual designed to raise the dead, but they’d accidentally stumbled on an actually functional ritual and managed to drag a large group of ghosts through all at once.

That last one had only happened once, last year, but it had been notable if only for the revelation that some magic as it pertains to ghosts _worked._ That had driven his parents to distraction for a few months as they tried to figure out _how_ and _why_ , although it got put on the back burning both because of a lack of progress and to stop the house smelling of incense.

His expectations, he had thought, were varied enough to account for most possibilities.

He was thrown for a loop, however, by the cloth sign strung across the cemetery gate with “The Raveyard” written in glow in the dark neon paint, and a dance remix of _Spooky Scary Skeletons_ playing in the distance amid sounds of partying.

So _not_ varied enough, evidently.

Danny stepped up hesitantly to the cemetery's entrance. As he reached the threshold, the air in front of him shimmered ethereally as a ghost became visible. He was _huge_ , mostly pale green skin, with a massive jawline and wearing a neat black suit that just barely covered his bulk. The bouncer, Danny realised. Like any good bouncer, the ghost projected an intense air of intimidation, like it didn’t matter how well you fought, you weren’t getting past him.

“Your name on the list?” The ghost asked gruffly, gesturing to a clipboard.

“What _is_ this?” Danny asked.

“Party, genius. Name?”

“Uh, Danny Fenton,” Danny replied, still befuddled. At least they weren’t fighting. “I might be down as Danny Phantom?”

The burly ghost scanned his sheet with care before shaking his head. “Nope, you’re not on here. Head on through.”

“… Isn’t that backwards?”

“Nah. Boss lady wants us to keep specific people out, not only let some in. Here, have a look.” He turned the clipboard to face Danny. Sure enough, the paper attached at the top was labelled “Exclusions”. As Danny’s eyes drifted downwards to the first few names, a warm feeling bloomed in his chest and he smiled. He still wasn’t sure what was going on here, but he was fairly sure he knew who’d organised some of it based on these.

“I’d keep an eye out for those two,” Danny said, gesturing to the first two names on the list: ‘Paulina Sanchez AKA The Pest’ and ‘Dash Baxter AKA The Blond Baboon’. “They’ll probably try to sneak in if they get chucked out.”

“Thanks for the tip,” the bouncer nodded, stepping aside to let him through, which Danny did, nodding his thanks as he passed.

Danny walked in the direction of the music, which seemed to be emanating from the main courtyard, tapping his comm as he went. “Mom? I’m here. It kinda looks like a… party?”

 _“Oh?”_ The voice of Maddie came through, suspiciously chipper for a patrol night. _“Well, go have a look! Take some pictures!”_

Shrugging at the unusual tone, Danny took to the skies, wanting an aerial view of whatever was going on.

Absolute pandemonium, that’s what was going on. A vast mass of people in various costumes were crowded into the large stone courtyard, the ghostly glow of the participants giving the area some surprising illumination. Shouting, laughing, partying their hearts out, the crowd was gathered mainly around a hastily erected stage, complete with vast speakers and a set of DJ equipment atop it, light rigs spraying coloured lights all around in complex patterns. Paths leading away from the main stage were as populated but more spread out, booths and games set up on empty plots with people wandering between them and occasionally shrieking in fear before laughing.

Off to the side of the stage, on the grassy area was a vast table, piled high with food, drink and- wait a minute, there was human _and_ ghost food there, why would they need that?

Danny looked at the partying crowd a little more closely. There were ghosts down there he recognised, sure. He could see the Skeleton Crew, a group of green skeletons that came through now and then to cause mischief. Most of _them_ were decked out in pinstripe suits and carrying fake Tommy guns, but there were a few others with them, and _they_ were just dressed as skeletons, dancing and shouting something about the skeleton war.

_Those were humans!_

They were lost a little in the collective glow of the Ghost Zone denizens, but there were definitely living people among the crowd, dancing, talking, some were even trying to scare the ghosts. How was this even-

Something impacted Danny from behind hard, arms wrapping around his torso. He wriggled around, trying to get a good look at his assailant, and caught sight of green hair.

“Kitty?”

“Hey, Danny!” Kitty smiled at him, releasing him from her grip. “Glad you could make it!”

“What the heck _is_ this?”

“Gee, I don’t know,” the green haired ghost deadpanned. “It _looks_ like a Halloween party, but I can’t be sure.”

“Oh great, someone else who thinks they’re funny. I’ve got dibs on that in this town!” Danny grinned back, before gesturing down at the crowd. “Seriously, though, what is this? I recognise people down there, from _both_ sides of the portal.”

“People nothing, you seen the DJ?” Kitty asked, cat-like grin adorning her face.

Danny turned back, and _really_ had to restrain himself from opening fire. Danny wasn’t sure how he’d missed the figure standing amidst all the equipment, his hands dancing at high speed as he manipulated the machines.

“Behold as I, **TECHNUS,** master of all things advanced and silicon, demonstrate my expertise in both dance music _and_ dance lighting! **NYA HA HA HA HA!** ”

“Kitty, what the heck?!” He demanded, spinning back to face the biker ghost.

“Oh, you’ve gotta give him a job to do, otherwise he’s a _nightmare_ at a party,” Kitty replied conversationally.

“Not _that!_ Well, OK, yes, that too!”

“Hmmmm,” Kitty intoned, her finger to her chin in mock thought. “I don’t think payback is the word I’m looking for, but it’s the best I’ve got?”

Danny turned his shocked expression into a deadpan one with some effort.

“What, I really can’t think of a better one!” She whined. “Me and Johnny owed you for the building trashing!” Kitty then looked around conspiratorially, checking around the two of them for eavesdroppers. Who else would be up here with them, Danny couldn’t fathom. Once she was sure they were alone, she turned back and whispered. “And also, for letting us come through for dates. And also, for helping Ember.”

She winked at that last one, and Danny could feel himself flush. He could _not_ afford to be this obvious.

Ember had told him Kitty had managed to find them both out not even a day after the destruction of the last legal Mastercorp building in existence. They’d gone back and forth over text who was to blame for this – Ember for her wig idea, or Danny for getting himself stuck between forms (which they eventually dubbed his Schrödinger form, because who knew if he was alive or dead like that). Eventually they decided they just weren’t cut out for subtlety and also that Skulker was to blame somehow. The dipstick.

Thankfully, Ember had said Kitty was inclined to keep the whole thing a secret, although she’d been cagey on exactly _why_ Kitty was willing to do so. Danny was beginning to think he might know why.

“Sooooo, I called in a few favours, got a truce declared for the night, invited everyone who’d be down to party, plus Technus ‘cause he’d crash otherwise, and voila! The best Halloween party in all Amity Park, courtesy of me and Ember!” She beamed, spreading her arms in a ta-da gesture.

“So, you did all this… for me?” Danny asked, a smile slowly growing on his face. “That’s… thank you! Both of you! Speaking of which, actually, where is Ember?”

“Oh? Eager to see your blue haired beau?” She teased slyly, as Danny waved his arms in a panic.

“It’s not like that! We’re not- “

“Nope, I’m not doing this again, I got enough of it from Ember,” Kitty deadpanned, before floating in front of Danny. “Saw the song, saw you looking at her like she was the whole world, know you like her, don’t try to deny it, I know all your secrets, Phantom!” She declared, poking his forehead with every point made.

“… For the record, I’m only not arguing with you because you’ve clearly convinced yourself otherwise,” he replied haughtily, batting aside her hand while she rolled her eyes.

“Sure, let’s bury all those feelings deep down and never act on them, why not? Don’t worry, you’ll run into Ember, I’ve made sure of that” She snarked, before plucking at his jumpsuit. “Anyway, you’re not even close to properly dressed! Don’t worry, though, I’ve got you covered in the outfit department!”

“… why does that scare me more than the thought of everyone down there attacking me?”

“Oh, ye of little faith,” Kitty scoffed. The music from the stage lulled for a moment, and Kitty span on her heel in mid-air, cupping her hands around her mouth. “Party till you drop!” she screamed at the crowd.

“ **AND STILL DON’T STOP!** ” came the roared reply, the ghostly echo blended together with human voices.

“Heck yeah!” Kitty cried, pumping her fist in the air, before turning and grabbing Danny’s arm. “Come on, let’s get you in your costume!”

* * *

Danny stumbled as Kitty shoved him into a tent set up a fair distance from the main event, the music from the stage just one the edge of hearing. It was pitch black, and when Kitty released him from her hold, he found he couldn’t see a thing.

“Uh, Kitty?” He called out to the darkness. “Is this some weird ghost changing room thing? Because I don’t know how to use it if it is!”

Silence. Not solitude, however. He could _feel_ something moving around in the darkness with him. Danny started sweating a little. It belatedly occurred to him that although this was a graveyard and Kitty had _said_ she’d got a truce called, it might not actually be tru-

“BOO!” Something with a hard, angular face and a wide maw roared in Danny’s face as light abruptly flooded the tent. Danny shrieked, and ignited his palm with glowing green energy, ready to fire, before the figure collapsed before him, doubled over with laughter. A moment later, he realised that, elaborate mask aside, he recognised the red hair and frame of his assailant.

“Jazz! Don’t _do_ that!” He whined, the acidic flare dissipating from around his hand. “I could have blasted you!”

“It was worth it for the look on your face, little brother!” She laughed, pulling the wooden monster mask off, and smiling at him. Now that the room was lit and the distraction of the hideous mask was gone, Danny got a good look at Jazz’s costume for the night.

“… are you dressed as Ember?”

Indeed, she was wearing a near-perfect replica of Ember’s usual outfit, skull platform boots and everything (although Danny vaguely recalled that Jazz’s version of the boots weren’t metal, instead some sturdy but still cheaper plastic). Even the make-up was meticulously drawn under her eyes. Danny hadn’t seen it since Ember’s first appearance, back when Jazz was as brainwashed as everyone else.

“Yup! Found it when I was going through my wardrobe and decided to keep it for Halloween! Although,” she paused, before looking over Danny’s shoulder. “Kitty, do you think it’s weird and/or Freudian to be dressed up like my brother’s future girlfriend?”

“Eh, maybe a little,” Kitty replied, her hand wobbling as she ignored Danny’s spluttering. “Just don’t let on I told you any of that and we should be fine.”

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Danny finally managed. “I don’t think she even feels that way about m- “

“Clueless!” The two girls chorused as Danny groaned.

“And since when are you two _this_ cool with each other?!” he asked, confused, and not deigning to respond to that remark.

Kitty and Johnny had come through two days after the demolition of the last legal Mastercorp building for their apology to Jazz. Danny had insisted on being there in case Jazz felt uncomfortable, but he needn’t have worried. Jazz forgave them easily, even said she’d understood why it had all happened in the first place. Any relief Johnny felt, however, was dashed when Jazz emphasised what would happen to him should he try something like that again.

‘Emphasised’ in this case meaning putting on the Fenton Peeler, pinning him up against the wall and pointing the cannon somewhere… uncomfortable.

Kitty’s only reaction to her boyfriend’s plight was to giggle and comment she was definitely related to Danny. But he wouldn’t have guessed they’d want to associate much outside that.

“Oh, she’s been helping me plan this whole thing!” Kitty enthused. “Her, Tucker and the blonde. She’s new, right? Sorry, I’m bad with names but I remember hair.”

“You mean Star? Wait, they were all in on this and didn’t tell me?!” Danny griped while his sister chuckled.

“That’s the most necessary component of a surprise, little brother,” she said, her condescending tone offset by the warm smile she had. “We needed Tucker to do his mayor thing on this end and Star to get all the Casper High students who _aren’t_ jerks invited.”

“And it all went perfectly!” Kitty crowed, holding up her hand for a high five that Jazz happily, if awkwardly, returned.

“I never did think all the research I did on logistics and supply lines for when I ran my own hospital would come in useful for party planning,” Jazz mused, whilst Kitty strode to the side of the tent and flung open a wooden chest that lay there.

“Anyway, enough gawping at our genius,” she shouted as she dug through the contents of the chest. “Let’s get you dressed up!”

“And you won’t be needing this!” Jazz declared, pulling his comm from his ear, putting it to her own. “Mom? Yeah, we got him! You can sign off and get some sleep! … Oh, you’re going to do some work on the Astral Specter Detector? Alright…”

“Oh, come on, mom and dad were in on it too?!” Danny asked, exasperated, and entirely missing the look of worry on Jazz’s face, which she soon wiped off.

“Oh, me, Kitty and Johnny talked them round.”

“How on Earth did _that_ conversation go?”

“Ummm…”

* * *

_“Would you stop tryin’ to shoot holes in my bike, you big orange brick?!”_

_“Not until you step away from my daughter! I know what you tried with her last time!”_

_“Dad, stop, it’s alright! I invited them!”_

_“So, you’ve already overshadowed her! Don’t worry, Jazzy pants, I’ll get you out of there!”_

_“How would I be overshadowed?! They’re both still here!”_

_“Mr. Fenton put the gun down! We’re just here to talk about throwing a party for Danny! And maybe setting him up with someone as well!”_

_“… set him up? With who?”_

_“My friend, Ember! You know, rockstar ghost, flaming hair, mind control… powers…”_

_“… Smooth, babe.”_

_“Oh, shut up and keep dodging!”_

* * *

“… Fine. It went fine.”

“Aha!” Cried Kitty, hurling a mound of clothing from the chest at Jazz and hauling up a load herself. “Right! Let’s get this boy properly dressed!”

 _What have I gotten myself in for,_ Danny thought in dread as the two girls descended upon him.

* * *

 _No, actually, this could have been worse_ , Danny mused as he waved back sheepishly at the fifteenth person to complement his costume.

Kitty had downright _insisted_ on decking him out like some swashbuckling hero. Tricorn hat with a giant white feather, white ruffled shirt unbuttoned to show more of his chest than he was usually comfortable with, leather fencing gloves, black breeches and what Danny could only call pirate boots because for the life of him he didn’t know the actual name for them.

Oh, and the sword. Where Kitty got an actual, metal rapier from, Danny was in no hurry to ask.

All in all, the outfit actually kind of worked, especially in ghost form, much as he didn’t want to admit it.

He decided to ignore the thought that had occurred to him halfway through getting the clothes on, that given Kitty likely knew Ember was a pirate enthusiast, there was probably a very, very good reason she’d given him this costume specifically. And for that matter, he also decided to ignore this whole scenario Kitty was trying to set up and everything he’d talked about with Tucker, because what surer way was there to ruin a good time than worrying over Things He Has To Do.

And what better way to ignore thoughts of a potentially awkward as all get out situation than by cheering your sister on as she fought ectopi?

“You got this, Jazz!” he shouted over the excitement of the crowd, as she shoved the green octopus aside and plunged her head under the water again, her hand held out in anticipation of the ghost coming at her again. The ectopus glances at the crowd and gave a large and obvious wink, circling itself around the barrel of water Jazz was currently submerged in. The ectopus lunged forward, tentacles snatching lightly at the air as it flew. At the last possible moment, just as the ghost was about to reach the water, Jazz’s head reared up from the barrel, an apple clenched firmly in her jaws.

The crowd cheered, and the ectopus deflated in defeat as Jazz pulled the apple from her mouth and held it aloft, grinning triumphantly.

Danny clapped along with the crowd, even as he wondered at exactly how safe bobbing for apples whilst eight armed ghosts tried to drown you was. Well, OK, drown was an exaggeration. They mostly just dunked you further down for a few seconds before letting you back up and chasing you off. But still.

“Are you sure you don’t want to try it, Danny?” Jazz asked, munching her apple as both left for newer attractions. “The apples are barely ectocontaminated!”

There was a sound of furious spitting as several other nearby winners overheard her ‘compliment’.

“Nah,” he dismissed. “It’s fun, but these aren’t my clothes, don’t want to ruin them for fruit. Speaking of, how is your make-up _not_ a mess?”

“Women’s secret, little brother,” Jazz deflected sagely.

 _You bought waterproof makeup for this then,_ Danny resisted the urge to say. Let Jazz have her fun being mysterious, even if she’s somehow forgotten that of course Danny would know about that. How could he not, he’d spent more than a decade friends with Sam, and half a year dating her.

He grit his teeth. Of course, his brain would come around to some of the things he was trying to not think about, regardless of his efforts. Treacherous grey matter.

“So, what now? Got any games you want to try?” Jazz asked, taking another large bite of her winnings.

Grateful for the distraction, Danny looked around, trying to see what else was available past the crowd of fellow partygoers. In-between the costumes ( _Oh hey, that’s a really good Jenny Wakeman costume_. _I should rewatch that show, maybe with Em-BRAIN! STOP IT!)_ and the ghostly figures he spotted something that looked promising.

“How about we try Seven Minutes in the Crypt? Wander around underground and get the pants scared off us?” Danny suggested, but Jazz shook her head.

“No can do. Kitty wants me to keep you away from that and the dance floor for a little bit. She says she has plans for you and those.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine, don’t want to ruin Kitty’s bad, bad idea. Let’s go get some food, then.”

Jazz nodded her assent, and they both begin making their way to the food table, stepping around the clusters of costumed people as they went.

“What’s a bad idea?” Jazz asked suddenly, breaking the silence between them.

“What?”

“Kitty’s bad idea. What bad idea?”

Danny stared at his sister incredulously. “Jazz, I know Tucker once legally changed my middle name to Clueless, but even _I’m_ not dense enough to miss what Kitty’s trying to do here. Be honest, how many of her plans consist of ‘get me and Ember in romantic situations and poke and prod us until things happen’?”

“Um…” Jazz hummed, her head nodding from side to side as she thought. “All of them? I think it’s all of them.”

“Right. Setting us up is a bad idea. Or a bad set of ideas, take your pick.”

Jazz scrutinized him closely. “So, you… _don’t_ like Ember that way?”

Danny realised he should have seen some variation of that question coming at _some_ point tonight and braced himself accordingly. He did not, and his red-faced stammering and complete failure to produce a coherent sentence either confirming or denying did him no favours if Jazz’s smirk was anything to go by.

“How have you got less composure about this than when it was Sam?” She queried with mirth after nearly ten seconds of this. “Then, it was obvious enough. Now, you might as well just write ‘I have a crush’ on your forehead, little brother.”

He breathed out, forcing himself to calm down and be less flustered. Really, he ought to be resigned to being an open book to everyone who spoken to him for more than ten minutes by now. Five if they were really perceptive.

“Never mind how I feel or don’t feel,” he retorted, rubbing the bridge of his nose as Jazz glanced at him almost with pity. “Why are _you_ in all right with this, anyway? I distinctly remember getting your palm upside my head for talking to Ember in the first place.”

“Because you turned off your comm in front of someone with brainwashing powers,” Jazz deadpanned. “Of course I was mad at you for that. But nothing bad happened then or since. She kidnapped you to look after you, I watched the clips of your match at the VRCade, and you and Ember, there was something there when the two of you were paired up. You’ve not been off your phone with texts to her either, so I wasn’t surprised when Kitty asked me to help with setting you two up.”

She shrugged, tossing the remains of her apple into a waste bin as they passed. “Plus, Ember does kind of fit your criteria of someone who sees you and not just Phantom. Really, little brother, I think she might be the only one who _can_. It’s weird, sure, the prospect of you dating a ghost and someone who’s tried to conquer the world/kill you, but name me one thing about our lives that’s been normal since, well, _ever_.”

Danny high fived someone from Casper High dressed as his _dad,_ of all things, Jazz staying silent until the group passed before continuing. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea. So why do you?”

He sighed. Evidently, he wasn’t getting his break from this tonight after all.

He wasn’t all that surprised to hear most of that from Jazz – when he’d gone over it all with Tucker, his best friend had said remarkably similar things, albeit more reluctantly for some reason. Like he was afraid of something, but Danny couldn’t get him to say of what. There was some connection with him and Ember that other people could see, which dashed Danny’s original plan of ‘pretend I’m imagining things’.

Even he had to admit – beyond his unwillingness to believe Ember felt that way about him, the dipstick, the person who, for all she found she couldn’t put her heart into them, _did_ bring all her schemes and plans to the ground… There wasn’t really anything standing between them on a personal level.

But it only worked if you discounted the rest of the world.

If you discounted Ember being made a target in the Ghost Zone, being thrown out of her home at _best_ , locked up by Walker, hunted, hounded, killed (again. Or however that worked for ghosts). If you were willing to overlook exactly how badly she could get hurt, or how much pain his enemies could bring down if they were found out. And oblivious to the goings on of the human world or not, they _would_ find out eventually, if only by passing a tabloid that read “Danny Phantom and Ember McLain”.

Danny told Jazz all of it, quietly, as they walked. He knew how… sad he sounded. It wasn’t like he _wanted_ any of this. Two weeks of thinking and talking with Tucker had just made him more aware of what his feelings for Ember were. There was just too much they couldn’t control, that would go wrong, and Danny didn’t want Ember to get hurt. He couldn’t stand the idea.

Jazz was silent when he finished, both walking around and through more clusters of people – it was getting more densely packed as they approached the food area, a few stalls set up either side of the large table, mostly hawking hot human food. Danny snagged a pair of hotdogs from a vendor, paying despite protest that it was on the house for _him_ of all people. He hated when places did that, he had far more money than he’d ever need, he was paying even if he had to sneak the money into a place later.

They both munched on their hotdogs, Danny’s mood dampened by their talk, until Jazz swallowed and turned to him.

“So, why’s that your problem?”

“Uh,” Danny raised his eyebrow. “Because I kinda don’t want her to get really badly hurt or worse?”

“No, sorry, bad choice of words,” Jazz chastised herself. “I mean why do _you_ get to make the decision?”

Danny just looked blank, not getting what she was saying.

“Everything you’ve just told me; it all comes to down to Ember being in danger. So, if Kitty’s right, and she feels the same way you _obviously_ do- “

“Shut up, I do not” Danny retorted automatically.

“Then why not let _her_ decide if the risk is worth it?”

Danny opened his mouth to protest.

Then he closed it.

Then he opened it again, but this time for a contemplative bite of his hotdog.

That wasn’t… _wrong_ , per se. Ember would probably appreciate him not making decisions for her. He’d gotten so used to doing things like that to keep people safe over the last two years it was almost second nature.

Correction, actually, Ember would probably deck him at minimum for presuming to choose for her.

As Jazz stood there, a smug, triumphant look on her face, certain she’d finally pushed him to acting on his feelings (the fact that she probably _had_ just made it grate on Danny more), Danny’s eyes were drawn to someone standing on the edge of the food crowd, looking straight at him.

“Hey, Jazz,” he muttered, his tone resigned. “If Kitty’s got anything planned for the next, oh, let’s say half an hour, tell her to put it on hold. ‘Cause if we’re doing this, there’s someone I’ve got to talk to first.”

Jazz followed his eyes and made a noise of sudden understanding.

In and amongst the talk of whether he and Ember would work, what would happen if they were caught on either side of the portal, and how do you keep _doing this,_ man, you’ve gotta let me know your secret, Tucker was insistent on one thing if he decided to pursue Ember – if only out of respect for their friendship, he _needed_ to let Sam know, personally.

 _Well,_ Danny thought, adjusting his hat as his green eyes stared into purple ones, _no time like the present._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have had an awful two weeks or so, dear readers.
> 
> Internet died for quite some time, so I couldn’t get the chapter up, then a power cut wiped what I already had. Bleh. So what was supposed to be a shorter chapter… well, it is still slightly shorter than usual, it must be said, but still, I expanded a few things in the rewrite, going up the day I get my internet back for (hopefully) good this time.
> 
> Also, you’d think I was writing an 80’s cartoon and trying to sell toys the way I keep putting Danny in new clothes. Danny Fenton, Danny Phantom, Schrödinger Danny, VRCade Danny, Pirate Danny, Burning Danny…
> 
> No, wait, we’ve not had that last one yet.
> 
> Do chuck a comment up, I like hearing what you all think!


	16. Payback: Still Don't Stop

The music that could still be heard past the little wooden bench Danny was currently sat on faded out, and he could make out Technus (Or DJ Technus, as he kept repeating) beginning another brief rant about his pre-eminence on the decks before kicking off the next song. He had a few prepared short speeches for in-between sets, which was going down bizarrely well with most people. Maybe being a DJ with a world domination gimmick would be a better thing for him to do.

Danny wasn’t most people, though, and every time Technus started one of his weird shrieking diatribes, he had to resist launching himself off to punch him in the face.

This wasn’t to avoid the person he was with, of course.

Not at all.

“So… no costume?” He asked Sam, who was sat next to him, eyes firmly on the ground.

Sam was indeed not in a specific costume, although she _had_ dressed herself up. Between her typical black and purple colour scheme, corset, dress, and boots, she managed to evoke the look of a 19th century urban witch pretty well. It looked good on her, Danny thought.

“No, I didn’t have a decent idea for one,” Sam replied, voice low. “Just thought I’d throw together some formal goth stuff, see how it turned out.”

“It works,” Danny replied simply. Silence fell over the two again.

The halfa sighed. There was only one reason he could think of that would have Sam this down. _Well, better to rip the band aid off, I guess._

“… I’m guessing you already know. About how I feel about Ember, I mean.”

Sam nodded, slowly, her eyes still refusing to meet his. “Yeah, Tucker… Tucker told me.”

 _Thank you, Tuck, I owe you one,_ Danny thought in some relief. He pledged a free Double Nasty at minimum for his friend.

“Then, can we just skip the rampage, please?” Danny smiled, slightly, risking a joke.

“I do not go on rampages!” Sam responded heatedly, raising her head to glare at him.

“Oh yeah? Then what happened when Tuck told you I’d caught feelings for Ember?”

* * *

_“OK, Sam, there’s no easy way to say this, and please let me keep my organs intact afterwards, but… I was wrong. Danny and Ember might be a thing. Danny just told me he-AH! Could you not chuck stuff at me?! I’m just the messenger!_

_Wow, that actually left a dent in the wall, how hard did you throw that book?!_

_… Sam?_

_Are you… Oh. Oh jeez._

_Come here, it’ll be alright…”_

* * *

“… I only threw one thing,” Sam defended weakly. Danny chuckled lightly, before they both lapsed into silence again.

This was… harder than Danny thought it would be. He didn’t want to alienate Sam – she’d been his friend since before he could remember _having_ friends. Danny doubted Sam would throw away their friendship over this, but the fear was there regardless. It needed saying, though. They owed each other that much.

“I know neither of us said it out loud,” Danny began, turning his head to look at Sam. “But there was kind of an… understanding, I guess? Whatever you want to call it. Wasn’t there? That if you sorted how you felt, knew where you stood, why you wanted to be with me, all that… we’d try again.”

She nodded, taking a deep breath.

“And?” he prompted and, for a second, regretted it. Whatever composure she’d managed to keep, it soon collapsed into the same look of shame and self-loathing she’d had when they’d broken up.

“No,” she said miserably. “I still can’t. Whenever I imagine you and me being _friends,_ it all comes easily. It’s bowling, Nasty Burger, video games and ghost hunting. It’s… right. But when I try to think of us dating, it just… it keeps coming back to Phantom. I… I don’t know _why._ ”

She shifted in her seat slightly, turning to properly face Danny, looking him in the eye despite how painful this was for her to say. He appreciated how much of an effort it took.

“I’ve spent months thinking, talking about it, trying to figure it out, but I still… I know I still lo- I mean, I still feel the same way, but I can’t tell why anymore. Whenever I try to it just comes back to white hair and flying, not who you _are_.”

Danny said nothing, waiting for Sam to continue.

“… You know, it’s kind of ironic,” she said, laughing weakly and wiping unshed tears from her eyes. “I first worked out what I felt for you during Ember’s first attack. Now, I find out I lost to her… It’s over, isn’t it? Definitely over, this time.”

“… Yeah. It is,” Danny confirmed, nodding. “But if we’re being honest with each other… for me, it’s been over for a while.”

He hated the look of hurt confusion she shot him, but he elaborated regardless. “When we broke up, I was hurt, obviously, but I got it. Heck, I was _grateful_. I’d rather we tried to deal with our problems than shunt them to the side, you know? But the more we settled back into being friends, the more I realised this felt way more natural than dating ever had.

“Maybe we were still finding our feet dating wise, but I didn’t feel so off-balance. And when I decided I didn’t want to date until I was sure I wouldn’t _just_ be Phantom to whoever I was dating… I didn’t realise it until I talked about it with Ember, but that… that was the end for me. I’m sorry.”

Danny got up from the bench, before kneeling in front of Sam, putting his arms around her shoulders, and hugging her. He felt her arms slip under his as she hugged back, and tactfully ignored the slight wet patch he could feel on his shoulder where her face was. “We might not have made it as a couple, but I don’t regret the time we spent dating. You’ll always be my first girlfriend, and you’ll _always_ be my best friend. I promise you, that won’t change.”

“I’m such a freaking _hypocrite,_ ” Sam hissed into his shoulder, almost too low to be heard. “I tell off people like Paulina for being _shallow,_ but- “

“Hey, no!” Danny retorted. “Feelings are complicated, and you’re not a hypocrite, you’re the opposite. You applied what you stand for to your own feelings and did what you thought was right, how is that shallow?”

“… Thanks, Danny,” came the muffled reply before Sam pulled out of the hug, rubbing her palms into her eyes. “I think I needed to hear that from you. Can I just ask… can you two not do too much lovey-dovey stuff in front of me for a while? I’ll get over it eventually, but…”

“Cross my heart,” Danny interrupted, doing just that with his fingers over his chest. “And hey, it still might not happen. I’ve got no idea if Ember even feels the same.”

“Clueless,” Sam muttered, before her face scrunched. “So, this is what it felt like for Tucker all through freshman year.”

“… I don’t get it.”

“Oh, never mind,” Sam said, rolling her eyes and slapping his shoulder lightly.

“Whatever,” Danny shrugged. He smiled at his friend. “You think you’re good to head back? We can stay longer if you’d like.”

Sam thought about it, before nodding. “Yeah. Just… gimmie a few minutes, OK?”

Danny acquiesced, and sat there talking quietly with his friend about anything that came to mind, grateful this had gone without any bad feeling between them.

Well, until he pointed out she’d ruined her makeup. _That_ was what got things thrown at him.

* * *

“You’d think Jazz’d be easy to find in a crowd,” Sam mused, as they both stepped further into the sporadic mass of people around the food table.

“Yeah, especially when the crowd… _isn’t._ ” Danny replied, scanning the people around.

There wasn’t so much a single cohesive crowd as a series of groupings as friends, people with similar costumes or even ghosts and humans with a similar theme came together to talk, laugh and prank each other – Danny had had to dodge several hurled projectiles as the ghosts of the crowd phased through attempts to throw toilet paper at them, and several ghosts were using what abilities they had to freak some of the humans out.

“Waste of a perfectly good lemon meringue pie,” he stated, as he walked around the remains of a tinfoil-encased projectile that a beatnik ghost had allowed to pass through him.

“You sound like your dad,” Sam smirked, and Danny’s face went a shade or two whiter. Before he could protest, deny, or lament the truth of her remark (his knee jerk response being a confusing mishmash of all three), he spotted red hair on the edge of a group all dressed like KISS members.

“Found her!” he cried, pointing out his discovery before striding towards her.

In a way, he was right. Jazz _was_ there where he’d pointed. He just forgotten that Jazz’s hair was not styled like devil horns. It was _very_ appropriate for who she was talking to, though.

“You know, I’m surprised to find you here,” Penelope Spectra said, swirling a glass of some spectral liquid languidly, her eyes fixed to Jazz’s, who was staring back with equal intensity. Spectra had evidently decided that Freud with a short skirt was the most appropriate costume she could procure for the night, the beard in particular evoking a weird contrast. “I’d have thought you’d run away from your… _delightful_ family at the first chance. Go to college, and finally learn what the _real_ world of psychology is like.”

“Oh, well, that _was_ the plan,” Jazz replied, false politeness laid on thick. “But then I thought, where else am I going to be able to find out what’s wrong with you but the source?”

“Ah, you remind me of so many of my peers!” Spectra sniggered. “So young, so excitable, so sure they were going to found a new field of study. The folly of youth. I do so look forward to talking to you once practice has ground you down.”

“Of course, you’d know all about the folly of youth, considering yours is far behind you,” Jazz said, taking a nonchalant sip of her decidedly human soda. Spectra’s face briefly twitched in annoyance, before she tilted her glass in Jazz’s direction. Point, Fenton.

“Hm. Perhaps, but I’m only trying to save you from yourself, _dear._ Oh, the idealists are broken so easily, it’s such a _tragedy_ to see.”

“Maybe so, but- Hey!” Jazz exclaimed as Danny scooped her up in a fireman’s lift.

“Stop doing passive-aggressive banter with your nemesis,” he deadpanned. “She’ll just use it all later to get at you.”

“She’s not my- Wait, _are_ you my nemesis?” Jazz asked a bemused Spectra, who shrugged.

“Probably more yours than his. A shame we have to cut this short. I’ve not had such good material to work with in years. I miss academia. The pettiness fuelled me” she lamented, draining her glass. “Oh, Phantom?”

“What, Spectra?”

“As you’re depriving me of one playmate, I was wondering if you could direct me to another? Have you seen Ember?”

 _Don’t react don’t react don’t react,_ Danny furiously repeated in his mind as he turned back slowly, his face as blank as he could make it. “Not so far. I saw Kitty above the dance floor earlier, though.”

“Oh well, she’ll have to do,” she sighed.

As the group turned their backs on her, Spectra waved her hand over Sam, dark wisps escaping from her head and flying to the ghost women. She breathed deeply, inhaling all the despair and sadness she’d managed to pull from the goth.

“Mmmmm… _delicious,”_ she purred, feeling energy and power coursing through her. “Oh my, Phantom, you _have_ been a bad boy tonight, to make your friend feel such misery… There’s hope for you yet.”

* * *

“Sorry, Jazz,” Danny mumbled as his sister rubbed at her leg, the trio having moved to the human food section. “Spectra’s, like, the last person I want finding anything out. I got… alarmed.”

“I understand, little brother, but could you _please_ find a better way of suppressing your panic than crushing my legs?” Jazz groused.

“Crush your arms instead, got it.”

Jazz just groaned, while Sam laughed behind her hand.

“And this is why you’re _still_ banned from the chemistry equipment, Danny. Stress makes you break things,” Sam teased.

“Oh, is _that_ why?” Jazz inquired, looking at Danny slyly. “I thought you told us it was just a lifetime ban they couldn’t reverse.”

“… Nope, I got nothing to cover that particular lie,” Danny confessed after a moments thought. “Things mysteriously break around me, you know that.”

Jazz drew a breath, probably for further mockery of his destructive tendencies before Danny saw her eyes flicker over his shoulder before widening and her lips quirked upwards in a slight grin.

“Hey, Sam?” she asked, reaching out a hand to the goth girls’ shoulder. “I think I saw Johnny and Tucker a bit further behind us, wanna go join them?”

“Why would we- Oh,” Sam intoned, heavier than she intended. “Yeah. Sure.”

As the two girls walked away from the bewildered Danny, Jazz whispered into Sam’s ear.

“Are you alright?”

Sam breathed a shaky sigh. “No,” she admitted. “But I will be.”

Jazz smiled and nodded, patting her on the shoulder.

Danny, meanwhile, was scratching at his head. _What was that about? Was it something I said?_

His confusion vanished as he felt a hand on his shoulder pull him around. Danny, upon seeing his assailant, to his credit kept his jaw from dropping to the ground. Mostly.

It’s possible not everyone would be as stunned as he was by the black and red masquerade dress, flaring out from the hips and covered in black lace spiderwebs, nor find the fan the woman held over half her face quite as alluring and mysterious as he did. The normally ponytailed hair was flowing freely down her back, and had somehow gone from blue flame to red. He’d have to ask how later. All that plus the elegant and feathered half mask was probably enough to disguise who she was from most observers, but Danny was certain he’d still recognise her even without the tell-tale smirk on her lips or the vibrant green eyes.

_Oh wow, I’ve got it worse than I thought. And I already thought I had it pretty bad._

It took Danny a few moments to realise he was staring, and he shook himself to break out of his stunned state.

“I… _wow_. Just wow. You look- “

“Mon capitaine!” Definitely-Not Ember cried in a ridiculous French accent. “What a coincidence to run into you at the ball! I trust you ‘ave not forgotten moi, mon amor?”

Danny rummaged in his brain for an appropriate response to… _that_ and drew an absolute blank. So, he went with an inappropriate one, and burst out laughing. He found he couldn’t stop even after he felt French Ember’s fan smack the top of his head as he doubled over.

“Play along, dipstick!” She hissed at him, dropping character momentarily.

“Bahahaha… ha… my apologies, uh, comtesse. It’s just I was so… suddenly overcome with joy at seeing you again!”

Ember gave a slight nod, the feathers of her mask waving as she did so, resuming her latest accent with an expectant grin. “Ah, well, I suppose I cannot blame you. It must ‘ave seemed awfully bleak when the study of the général went up in flames with moi in it.”

“Oh, OK, so this is what we’re doing,” Danny muttered, wide smile plastered on his face, before he lifted his head to face the masked ‘countess’. “Not at all! I know your skills too well to believe such a, uh, paltry trap could have caught you.”

“You do so flatter me, mon capitaine,” Ember simpered, fluttering her fan in front of her face, adopting the _goofiest_ of all possible seduction faces behind it that Danny had to try to stop himself from guffawing again. A strangled laugh did escape his lips before he regained his composure and held out his arm in an exaggerated display of gentlemanly manners.

“Come, let us wander together and regale each other with our trials and travails since last we parted,” he declared, tipping his hat at what would be a rakish angle on someone doing it seriously, but was merely nearly falling off on him. Ember took his arm, and they wandered around the crowds, their free hands gesturing wildly as they invented ever more complicated adventures.

* * *

“Come on, Johnny, we need an update here,” Kitty whined into her phone, pacing the stone floor of the crypt she’d ensconced herself in. And decorated with various pumpkins, bats, and spooky candles. She’s not so obsessed with matchmaking she won’t observe _tradition._

Around her were a few others, all of whom had a hand in setting the party up – Tucker was lounging on a pair of folding chairs, fiddling with his PDA (which was a PDA in name only at this point, he’d removed and replaced so much of the interior electronics and software). The trench coat he’d been wearing as part of his costume was slung over the back of them, leaving him in purple waistcoat and slacks with a black shirt. He’d told Kitty he was some character from an old action film, but it wasn’t one she knew.

Star was similarly close, dressed up in her archaic pink racing gear and occasionally sporting a southern accent, dealing with a steady stream of minor issues from the party goers. Kitty would feel bad that she was wasting the party smoothing over weird problems, but the girl honestly seemed delighted every time someone came to her for help.

“ _I toldja, I had to hang back at least a little or Phantom would spot me tailing him._ ”

“You can literally turn invisible!” Kitty nearly screamed. This was _important_ , she had to know at least a little of how they were doing to plan the rest accordingly.

“ _I am, I’m just not puttin’ it past Phantom or Ember to spot me anyways.”_

Kitty slapped her hand to her face. Of all the times for her Johnny to develop caution, now was not ideal!

“Jazz just texted,” Tucker piped up, waving his PDA. “Sam and Danny had a talk, Jazz is keeping her company, figures she doesn’t wanna get involved in mission control here.”

“I hope Sam’s alright,” Star said, the sympathetic look on her face offset by the cheery southern belle drawl. Kitty could _swear_ she’s seen this character somewhere before.

“She’ll be fine, she’s a big girl,” Kitty waved the concern off. “Johnny, come on, gimmie something!”

“ _OK, I think I’m close enough now… huh. Are they speaking in code? Who’s the Comtesse de Cendre? And is Phantom a captain of something? … When did they fight giant crabs?! Yo, Tucker, are there giant crabs here now? I wanna fight giant crabs!”_

“If we had giant crabs, I’d be eating them!” Tucker shouted from where he sat.

“Comtesse de Cendre is French for Countess of Cinder, if that helps!” Star called as her phone buzzed.

“That just makes it weirder, what the heck are they doing?” Kitty asked, confused.

“ _No idea, babe. They’re grinnin’ like lunatics, though.”_

Kitty hummed and shifted her head from side to side. OK, it made no sense to _her_ , but her and Johnny made no sense to most other people either. Whatever, then. Maybe the saccharine scenarios she’d conjured wasn’t what was happening, but was it ever going to be that straightforward with those two? They were both far too offbeat to go along with that. As long as they were together and having fun, that was what mattered, right?

“Alright, I guess we can steer them to the underground in a few minutes- “

“Oh my stars and garters.” Star mumbled, staring in panic at her phone. “Um. We might have a new problem.”

“I’m shocked. Shocked! Well, not that shocked,” Tucker deadpanned. “What’s up?”

A thundering boom rang out as the walls of the crypt suddenly shuddered and shook, throwing the chairs Tucker was lazing on into the air, the boy himself hurled upwards with an undignified shriek. Kitty and Star both stumbled under the sudden… explosion? Probably?

Kitty shot Star a look of alarm and inquiry from their mutual position on the floor, smacking aside a pumpkin that bounced towards her. Before Star could do much more than look sheepish, over the shouts and cries of the nearby crowd, they heard one voice roaring.

“ALRIGHT, GHOSTS! HAND OVER MY FRIENDS OR YOU’RE ALL GETTING BLASTED!”

* * *

It was pretty stupid, Danny knew. Childish, even, that this was how he and Ember were spending the time they get to talk anonymously, inventing a bizarre swashbuckling fantasy with pirates, monsters, magic, and derring-do.

It was also exactly what he needed.

He could feel all the stress of the month unwinding the more he and Ember elaborated their improvised adventures. The general tension from having to remain alert at all times melted as he described deliberately tilting his ship to fire all cannons at a kraken to her, to receive a lurid tale of intrigue and backstabbing among sea cultists in return. He could see Ember’s eyes spark every time he came up with something that grabbed her, and he felt a pleasant little jolt every time he got a smile of approval.

Danny thought he felt something similar coming from her as well. In hindsight, she’d been tense when they’d run into each other, but she was gradually relaxing from their silly little exchange. Every time he laughed or enthused about her 18th century femme fatale antics, her arm gave a little squeeze and she seemed to smile a little wider.

_I take it back. I’ve got it way, WAY worse than I thought._

“If you’ve never faced the Drowned, my dear, they’re simply hideous – dead sailors merged with sea creatures, zealously guarding the treasure and valuables they went down with. Nothing I or my crew cannot handle, of course, but braving their coral encrusted ships to retrieve the prize is more harrowing than- “

A crashing boom and a shouted warning shook the night, interrupting Danny mid-improv. His hand gesture and expression frozen for a moment, his ears taking in the sounds of confusion and increasing panic, before both dropped, and he rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

“Em,” he asked quietly, his tone dropping from the exaggerated adventurer voice he’d slipped into. “Star _did_ tell Valerie this was happening, right?”

“Uh. I think 2001 said she wanted it to be a surprise,” Ember replied, wincing slightly at the Red Huntress’ shouted threats.

Danny groaned. “Oh, wonderful idea, wait for the most dedicated ghost hunter in Amity to just _find_ a massive concentration of ghosts and humans and hope she doesn’t assume the worst.” He straightened his back and resumed the devil may care attitude and vocabulary of Captain Phantom. “Pardon me, comtesse, but there’s a situation I must deal with urgently. I hope you don’t take too much offence at my bad manners to refuse my request to dance later?”

“Oh, I, um… well, mon capitaine,” she stuttered, shifting gears back into character with some difficulty. “I am disappointed you would leave me for such a trivial matter, but I will not ‘old it against you enough to not ‘old _me_ against you later,” she managed, with a wink and a flutter of her fan.

Danny chuckled at the awkward flirt, and did not blush, shut up, before he turned on his heel and launched into the air, one hand on his hat to stop it flying off, heading near full speed to where the sound of Valerie bellowing threats at the assembled ghosts was loudest. She rarely bothered with subtlety when superior firepower would do the trick.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Danny shouted, putting himself between the Red Huntress and the ground. “I’ve heard of party crashing, but this is next level, Val!”

The helmeted head snapped in his direction, and she glared at him through the visor for a moment until she recognised who he was.

The Huntress suit hadn’t changed much since she’d gotten it; still the same high tech, mildly alien seeming black and red body suit with armour plating. The lack of change wasn’t ideal, really. One of the first things Danny had done when he and Valerie had buried the hatchet was to get the armour looked over by Tucker and his parents. Technus built the thing, after all, and that was barely a step-up from having gear sent by Plasmius, trust-wise.

They couldn’t make hide nor hair of it, so had begrudgingly only slapped the anti-Technus software into its custom operating system (called TechnOS, because of course) and advised her only fight the technology ghost with back-up – he’d undoubtedly have exploits built in so it couldn’t be used against him.

“Danny? Good, two of us can plough through this easier. You’ve been here longer, any idea why this many ghosts have kidnapped this many people?” Valerie started, her professional tone echoing slightly through her helmet speakers before another voice interrupted.

“Valerie! I’m fine we’re all fine everything’s fine please stop shooting people they’re just here to have fun!” Star shouted breathlessly up at them from below, jumping up and down and waving her arms to be seen.

“Star?” Valerie said, dropping her wrist cannons back into her gauntlets, although Danny was still wary of what he called the murder cubes still floating around her head.

“She’s right, it’s not what it looks like,” Danny said, before pausing. “Well, actually, it’s exactly what it looks like, because it’s a Halloween party.”

He could see Valerie reassess the situation from behind her visor with some bewilderment, darting to the pair of humans taking cover behind a gorilla ghost in a suit, to the Skeleton Crew plus human apprentices all heckling her, and finally seeming to take in what Danny was actually wearing, before she screwed her eyes shut in frustration.

“Let me guess – when Star sent me a text saying, ‘Ghosts going wild in the Raveyard, come on down’, that wasn’t a warning?”

Danny winced at the wording. “Ah. No. She… wanted to surprise you as well as me.”

A mortified groan was the only noise that came from the Huntress’ helmet as she covered the visor with her hands.

“Oh my _God.”_

“Yeah.”

“I shot a _freaking grave._ ”

“That, ah, that you did. You wanna land so me and Star can explain and not, you know, cause a riot?”

“Only if I can get in a tomb and stay there,” she mumbled, before taking her hands from the visor and looking him up and down. She grinned. “Looking good, Danny. Nice outfit.”

“Oh, thanks! I like it, not mine though.”

“Yeah. I said it was nice, of course it’s not yours, spaceman.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Ah, embarrassed to abusive in seconds. Welcome back, Val.”

* * *

“And you’re _sure_ this is a legit truce?” Valerie pressed, leaning against a tree, and facing both Danny and Star. The rest of the party had more or less gotten back underway, the music blaring from the nearby courtyard and the chatter of conversation resuming. Most of the ghosts were steering well clear of the Red Huntress, however, her fearsome reputation and recent explosions keeping them away even if she had discarded the armour to talk with her friends.

Much like with Danny, who had the lean muscle of a runner or martial artist, ghost hunting had left its mark on Valerie physically over the year and a half she’d been at it. Nearly all traces of puppy fat had been burned from her, leaving Valerie all toned athleticism and coiled strength. Her wavy black hair was shot through with stripes of dyed red, a change she’d made shortly after her identity became widely known.

“I’ve run into Technus and Spectra,” Danny supplied. “If it wasn’t genuine, I’d have expected one of them to try something by now. Instead, she’s just walking around playing as nice as she’s able to and Technus is being a surprisingly good DJ.”

“That weirded me out too!” Star interjected. “I only ever knew him as the obnoxious egomaniac that could actually fight, unlike the box guy. I wonder if any of the others have hidden talent?”

“Probably all of them,” Danny shrugged. “But good luck getting anything except ‘bwa ha ha’ out of most.”

“What he said. Be careful, Star,” Valerie said seriously. “You can’t trust any of the ghosts as far as you can throw them. No sarcasm about flying!” She quickly interjected as Danny opened his mouth, before closing it with a huff.

“You’re no fun,” he grumbled.

“Now we both know that isn’t true. We have tons of fun when we spar,” Valerie grinned. “You make the funniest noises when you hit the mat.”

“What, better than that weird squawking bird noise you made last session?” Danny retorted, smirking at her instant annoyance.

“I did _not_.”

“She made a weird bird noise,” he casually remarked to Star, who held a hand over her face to suppress her giggles.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Valerie emphatically stated, the unspoken ‘move past the bird noise’ command heeded. “I mean it. Even if this is a truce, keep your guard up.”

“Don’t worry! Mrs. Fenton’s been training me to deal with ghosts!” Star chirped. Valerie turned to Danny with an arched eyebrow. He shrugged.

“If she’s hanging around the ghost magnets that are us, I’m at least getting her a weapon and the training to use it,” he said, which Valerie nodded agreeably to. “I do think we’re alright here, though. Johnny and Kitty _want_ make peace with us.”

“Yeah! And she’s been super helpful setting this up!” Star enthused. “I better get back, actually, we’ve still got some other things to get running!”

She obviously winked at Danny, before skipping off, waving to her two friends as she went.

“What was that about?” Valerie asked.

“Kitty’s got some specific plans for me she won’t tell yet,” he answered. “Something to do with me and Ember. I think she roped Star into helping.”

“Ah. Her,” Valerie said darkly. “Just be careful around McLain. She’s up to something.”

“She’s not, but I will be anyway,” Danny replied, raising his hands conciliatorily. It didn’t help.

“Oh, come on, Danny, of course she is! You know as well as I do ghosts like that don’t change their ectoplasm!” Valerie protested, to a look of approval.

“Nice paraphrase. But it’s not true, at least it’s not true in Ember’s case. Besides, you were all for Johnny and Kitty getting a pass, what’s different with Ember?”

“With those two, I’ve listened to their arguments,” Valerie rolled her eyes recalling all the silly little things she’d overheard before, hunting the pair. “If the meathead didn’t want to pick every fight he could to impress her, or set her off with his flirting? Outside the thing with your sister, they’d be harmless.”

“Clearly you’ve never been dragged into the more turbulent times of their relationship,” Danny deadpanned, to a small grin from Valerie.

“No, but you have, and you’re fine with them coming through, so I can roll with it. You _did_ get Jazz’s OK for that, right?”

“First thing I did,” Danny assured her. “So, why’s that different from Ember?”

“Because all we’ve _ever_ seen out of her is destruction, conquest and brainwashing, and nothing I’ve heard tells me there’s anything different about her now. And she says that she just doesn’t wanna do that anymore? I don’t buy it for a second, not after everything she’s done.”

“Is this just because she took your spot in _Nebula Patrol?_ ”

“No!” She protested, only to squirm a little under Danny’s inquiring eyebrow. “… OK, fine, that didn’t help. Seriously though, what made _you_ decide to believe she wants to just _stop_ all of a sudden?”

Danny paused, momentarily, trying to think of his answer. It was… harder, than when he’d persuaded Sam and Tucker to let her onto their VRCade team. There, he just had to obfuscate the real reason Ember wanted to play with them and leave out the deal they’d struck with each other.

Now, he had to sift through a whole set of very, _very_ strong emotions and thoughts and feelings to get at why he thought Ember was being genuine. She was, he knew, but separating the valid reasons for thinking so he could actually say out loud, from the “blue girl pretty” ones was more difficult now.

Lying didn’t occur to him, at least not outright. He and Val had nearly destroyed any friendship they had with a mutual lack of trust, and they both knew it. That they trusted each other implicitly _now_ took a year of work on both their parts. It was worth it, he thought – much as he loved Sam and Tucker and would never replace them, there _was_ something nice about having someone your own age who could be right next to you in a fight, punching ghosts in the face.

In the end, he went with a variant of the same half-truth he’d told his two friends the first time.

“Because she asked me for help,” he said, simply. “I couldn’t say no.”

Valerie was silent, thinking it over. Before Danny could elaborate, her face split into a wide, lively smile, not the reaction he was expecting.

“That is _such_ a you answer,” she said warmly, shaking her head. “Fine, but I’m keeping my eye on her.”

“Works for me,” he grinned in response. “You sure you’re not gonna stick around? You haven’t tried the Klemper Rodeo or the Cursed Wishing Well yet.”

“… is that last one what I think it is?”

“It’s just Desiree down a hole, yeah.”

“I think I’ll pass on that,” she replied with a smirk, before her left eye flashed and red symbols scrolled down the iris. “I’ve had the armour running some scans. There’s a lot of the regulars here, but no Skulker, Fright Knight or a few others. None of them is going to recognise a truce set up just for a party. Me out there, you in here, between the two of us we can keep people safe, back each other up if something goes wrong with either.”

Danny couldn’t argue against that, much as he might like to, so Valerie summoned the Red Huntress suit in preparation of leaving. Before she formed the board from the soles of the boots, however, she hesitated, and turned back to Danny.

“By the way… Any luck tracking her down yet?”

Danny gave her a wistful smile. “We’re pretty sure she’s down in Mexico if the scans are right. Assuming she doesn’t find a way to leap across continents again, we’re thinking we should have a location for her before Christmas. Sooner, if she goes ghost for any reason.”

“Good,” Valerie nodded, smiling inside the helmet. “Let me know when you find her. Dani deserves a real Christmas.”

“Darn right she does. Unfortunately, she’ll get a Fenton one. Good hunting, Val,” he waved, as she took off into the night again, leaving him alone.

Well. That’s another complication to add to the list of him and Ember, Danny supposed – Valerie _was_ marginally less suspicious of everything containing ectoplasm than she had been when she started hunting. It had taken a few trips to the friendlier areas of the Zone and some unique training in ghost hunting from the yetis of the Far Frozen to break Valerie of her ‘all ghosts are evil’ absolutism. The fact she was able to recognise Johnny and Kitty as potentially safe for people to be around was proof enough of that.

But she was also unforgiving, and even Danny wasn’t quite so blinded by his emotions to see that the attempts at world domination and mayhem Ember had pulled weren’t something most would just look past.

Heck, _he_ hadn’t. It had taken her completely opening up, making an effort to help him as much as he helped her and _saving his life_ for the part of his mind that kept whispering mistrust to finally die. If it took _him_ that much, he didn’t want to think about how much of a Herculean task it would take for Valerie to simply _tolerate_ Ember’s presence, never mind that she’s dating (maybe! Danny’s brain insisted on adding, only maybe dating!) one of her best friends. Shooting the ghost girl on sight would be the minimum he’d expect.

Another problem, another person opposed, another _issue._ Another reason getting together with Ember might be a bad idea.

Another thing pushing Danny to write these all out on paper so that Ember can set them on fire.

 _Screw_ the list. Of the items that affected him, Danny found he didn’t much care anymore. Of the ones that didn’t, he didn’t want Ember to get hurt, but Jazz was right – that wasn’t his decision.

He liked her, and people kept telling him she liked him back. It _wasn’t_ that simple, but that was everyone else’s problem, not theirs.

He turned his head casually to face a seemingly empty patch of air. “Hey Johnny,” he said conversationally. “If Kitty’s got something planned for the dance floor, around now would be the time to start. I owe the comtesse a dance.”

Danny strolled off, chuckling at the strangled sounds of surprise coming from the invisible biker.

* * *

_“… I told you so, Kitten!”_

“How in the heck did he… nope, doesn’t matter, Tucker!” Kitty shouted, daintily stepping over a wounded ghost bat, still valiantly staying in character as a decoration. Or maybe this one was actually a decoration. Kitty had lost track. “Better get ready to hack the DJ equipment!”

“Oh, I’ve been broken in for a while,” Tucker said, turning his PDA to display the track list. “Been copying the playlists for the last half hour. Technus has _taste,_ which I gotta admit was not something I thought I’d ever say. Bit too much Rush on some of them, though.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Get the romantic songs ready to go!”

“Yes, your highness,” Tucker deadpanned, tapping at the keys.

“Guess we’re just gonna have to hope this plus what Ember’s got for him will be enough…” Kitty muttered. At least a dozen plans, wasted to interruptions by hunters and the pairs weirdness.

“What’s Embers thing?” Star asked, picking up the wounded bat – a ghost, as it turns out, given it thanked her under its breath – and replacing it on the wall. “There you go, little guy!”

“Spoilers,” Kitty replied cheekily to the blonde. She liked this one. More than the tech geek, anyway. Although she at least had to credit him with the sense to wait for Johnny to leave before hitting on her, unlike her man with any other girl.

OK, maybe she and Johnny should take up Jazz’s offer of couples counselling, Kitty realised.

“But put it this way,” she continued. “If I hadn’t seen anything with Danny and Ember and how _obviously_ into each other they are, if I knew _nothing,_ and saw what Ember’s got for him back at her realm? I would’ve thought they’d been together for at least a year already.”

“… Well, now I really wanna know!” Star griped.

“Hee hee, still no!” Kitty giggled, revelling in her position as Keeper of All The Secrets. “All I’ll say is it was to repay him for the VRCade trip and Ember wasn’t kidding about the pair of them having no sense of when to stop when paying each other back.”

“All right, showtime!” Tucker shouted from his seat, before turning his PDA back to Kitty. “Would her majesty care to start proceedings?”

* * *

“Who has done this?!” Technus screamed into the mic as the upbeat dance song that had been playing abruptly cut off. “Who has subverted the will of I, **DJ TECHNUS**?!”

Danny rolled his eyes at the histrionics of the technology ghost. DJ or would be world dominator, Technus was a perpetual ham. A shame Kitty’s thing was kicking in now, though, he’d been enjoying dancing to it. He still couldn’t find who he was here for, but the hint had been obvious enough, so Ember would be here somewhere. It would help if her hair was in its usual style, a gigantic blue flame really helped in finding someone in a crowd.

Ah well. He’d needed to warm up anyway.

The crowd on the dance floor had let him on enthusiastically after his failed search for Ember, and he’d responded in kind. Dancing was something he’d always enjoyed, and thought he was good at it, all told. The other dancers (quite _how_ the dude in the Godzilla costume was breakdancing, he couldn’t tell) seemed to agree – he got occasional cheers and hoots for some of the moves he pulled.

But then he couldn’t tell if that was just because of who he was – a swashbuckler outfit wasn’t enough to disguise who he was, after all, and he’d had enough people drop him compliments he wouldn’t have gotten before he’d been outed as Danny Phantom. A wry grin formed on his face as Technus’ rantings continued – Sam, Tucker and Valerie had all complimented his dancing before. He should be more secure about this one.

With no warning, the speakers came to life again, playing something slower and more… intimate. The DJ mic also shut down, which meant the furious exclamation that this was too _early_ for couples dancing, what hack has subverted the glorious and precisely perfect setlist of the mighty DJ was cut off mid flow, to a rumble of laughter from the crowd.

Danny chuckled along with the crowd, before he felt a hand tap him on the shoulder. Instantly his stomach twisted into knots with a nauseating mix of nerves and excitement, because he _knew_ who was going to be there when turned around.

Sure enough, he was greeted with the masquerade mask, red flame hair and sly smirk of Ember McLa- No, sorry, the _Comtesse de Cendre,_ they’d probably have to keep up that charade for the moment as well, too many ghosts on the dance floor. She’d put the fan away somewhere and was holding out a hand to him in anticipation.

“Well, mon capitaine,” she said, thick accent assuming an air of faux haughtiness. “I suppose I must be true to my word and overlook your rudeness to grant you this one dance. Shall we?”

And like that, the nerves vanished as Danny assumed the posture of Captain Phantom again. He wondered briefly if dispelling nerves and letting them act more freely was the point of Ember encouraging the personas. Or if it was just because of their already established inability to fool anyone for any length of time. Or some other reason. Whatever. It didn’t really matter, he dismissed, as he took her outstretched hand with a grin.

“Of course we shall, my dear comtesse,” he said, putting his spare arm around her waist while she wrapped hers around his shoulder.

It became abundantly clear very shortly that neither of them had the faintest idea how to ballroom dance in the way they presumed their characters would, and equally clear that they didn’t care, melding what little they could remember together with more modern dancing and things they just outright made up.

Danny span Ember around him as the slow ballad continued. He was barely paying attention to the music, some cheese ball 80’s thing, definitely Kitty’s pick. His attention was totally taken by the girl in his arms, whose smile only seemed to get wider as they moved and flowed with each other. He’d never danced with someone like _this_ before, where any weird or unconventional thing he tried was adapted and added to with ease.

At first, he worried he was making this about him in a roundabout way, even as the more rational part of his brain told him that was absurd. He couldn’t help it; was this what _she_ wanted from a dance? A partner who just did whatever and she had to deal with that? Ridiculous, he knew, but there was always that nagging sense of self-doubt when it came to things like this.

Then she grinned mischievously, snagged control of their dance away from him and dipped him as low as she could before swinging him up and hurling them both upwards into the air with a spin, Danny instantly throwing his arms above his head theatrically as she did so and hovering for a moment before dropping down. From that moment, she led him in a series of movements that managed to _evoke_ tango, but Danny was reasonably sure bore no resemblance to the actual thing.

Oh, OK. So, he could play along with her eccentricities as well _and_ enjoy himself doing it. Good to know. Now shut up, self-doubt brain.

The more he danced and twirled and moved with Ember, the more she slowly let her persona drop and let herself laugh and smile, spinning her oddly dressed companion around and the more they both just started doing whatever felt natural to them… the more Danny realised exactly how free to just be himself around Ember he felt, more than anyone else in his life right now. And he got the distinct impression she felt similarly about _him_.

Someone who not a month and a half ago they would both have counted as an enemy, albeit an absent one.

Well, life had thrown him stranger curveballs. Death too, if you wanted to get technical.

“End of the song, phase through the ground,” Ember whispered to him the next time she drew close. He nodded.

Danny noticed, somewhat belatedly, that they had an audience to their dancing, several people cheering them along, and more than a few with their phones out recording. The price of public life, of course, but for once he was somewhat grateful for it. No matter how the next, let’s say ten to thirty minutes, goes, it will be nice to have something to look back on.

The song came to an end, and Danny and Ember separated from each other, one hand clasped to their partners and arms fully extended. Sporadic clapping appeared, before it turned into mild gasps from the human portion of the crowd as the two fell through the floor, laughter echoing from the pair and the masquerade mask clattering to the ground as they did so.

* * *

On the furthest edge of the graveyard, as far from the main courtyard and its more intrusive party atmosphere as could be gotten, was a small grove with a stone bench. In planning out the cemetery, it was decided to make this area somewhat isolated, a place where mourners could go to have some privacy if needed, shielded from view by the trees. In theory, it worked.

In practice, like everything else in Amity Park, it found itself appropriated by ghosts for their own use.

In this case, a pair of giggling, ghostly (ghostly-ish in the case of one of them) teenagers who rose through the ground and settled themselves on the bench next to each other.

“Pahahaha! What _was_ that face you pulled when I span you round me? You looked like a cross-eyed fish!” Ember cackled.

“Like you can talk! With your mask, I thought I’d dipped a startled bird!” Danny laughed back. “Oh man, did you see all those cameras on us? Tabloids are going to be paying historians for _weeks_ to find out everything they can about the Comtesse de Cendre!”

“Well, of course, mon amor,” Ember declared, reverting to the accent. “I am the centre of attention wherever I walk!”

“Ha!” Danny let loose, wiping his eyes before turning to grin at Ember. “Not that this wasn’t fun, but was there a reason for… all this?” He asked, gesturing to Ember’s costume.

At the question, Ember turned sheepish, hands wringing in her lap. “I, uh… I kinda panicked.”

“You panicked?” Danny tilted his head, confused.

“Yeah, I just… you were looking at me funny and I could tell you were about to chuck some dumb compliment at me and we’d get to the heavy stuff right away, so I freaked out and did the first thing I thought of.”

“… And the first thing you thought of was to roleplay a French aristocrat turned pirate spy and spin the tale of her whirlwind, cat and mouse romance with Captain Phantom?” He deadpanned, incredulity underpinning his voice.

“… Yeah, that was the first thing.”

“ _Wow_.”

“Ah, bite me, baby pop,” she grumbled, reaching out a hand to smack his shoulder.

“Where and how hard, rockstar?”

The sound of Danny’s palm slapping against his mouth echoed around the enclosed space as his eyes widened and his brain caught up with his words.

_Oh great, now my banter instinct is compromised by all this! … or is this flirting? How do I not know, jeez._

Ember for her part looked downwards, hiding her expression from him, although he thought he could see a part of her face flush a darker blue. Eventually, a few moments later, she rose her head again, and Danny scrambled to think of something to reverse the awkwardness.

And since stupid questions about her hair had worked at least once before, well…

“How long have you been able to do that with your hair?”

“Hm? Oh… always could, dipstick. I just don’t like the red. Reminds me too much of…”

Before, Danny’s mind filled in for him when Ember trailed off. Must have been a redhead when she was alive, he reasoned.

“Well, we’re alone now. You can get back to being you,” he smiled, to Ember’s hastily concealed thankfulness. With a sound like a whining flame, her hair shifted from the bright red and orange to her more usual blue, which she left loose. “There we go. The red worked with the dress, but your natural blue fits your skin tone far better,” he grinned.

“Oh right, fashion advice from _you_ of all people, I’m not… not… Ugh. We’re stalling, aren’t we?”

“I mean, kind of ruins it if you point it out,” Danny said. “Plus, I’ve gotten the impression from everyone who’s been around us; once we get going, we’re kind of hard to stop.”

“Yeah, Kitty said something similar… Baby pop, what _are_ we? To each other, I mean,” Ember asked, quietly, almost sighing her words.

And there it was, the question hanging over their heads. For all his confidence of before, for all the ‘forget the consequences’ attitude he’d managed to drum up, just hearing it said out loud brought all of the ways this could hurt Ember back for Danny. Strong enough that he almost considered just denying the whole thing, playing up his cluelessness as an excuse, anything to keep her _safe_.

He wouldn’t, though. It wouldn’t be fair to her, or to himself for that matter. He knew how he felt. This wasn’t just his decision, and Ember wasn’t some helpless damsel who needed saving. So instead, he drew a deep breath to steady himself before answering.

“… I don’t know,” Danny replied, honestly. “Before we tore down Vlad’s building, I’d have said friends. And that would have been weird enough. But then you saved my life and I saw you play and I…”

He stopped, unable to properly articulate his feelings beyond that. Ember look at him quizzically, and more than a little fearfully.

“You what?” she prompted and was treated to a look of mild annoyance on the ghost boys face.

“You know, we need a word for this,” Danny muttered, irritated.

“… What?”

“I mean, the English language is, like, one of the largest in the world, and we don’t have a word for the feeling in between a crush and lo… the L word?”

Danny could see Ember staring at him out of the corner of his eye, surprise and disbelief etched into her face. He hadn’t been the only one to doubt Kitty’s claims that the other was interested, he figured. It was a shock to him to realise that he could, in fact, read her reactions and body language reasonably well now. When had they gotten close enough for that?

_… Stupid question, brain._

“Because that… that’s where I’m at. That middle point I don’t have a word for. And since I’m pretty sure Kitty didn’t decide to set all this up on the _assumption_ you felt the same…” he trailed off, looking right at the ghostly rocker, who was still staring with wide-eyed shock at him. He tried to control his stomach’s backflips when she slowly nodded.

So, she did feel the same. The powerful feeling of absolute joy he felt only lasted a scant moment, before reality set back in. That didn’t stop an ear to ear smile appearing on his face, though, mirrored by a more hesitant but equally sincere one on Embers.

_Well, this just got ten times more complicated and exhilarating all at once._

“But I don’t think that’s the right question,” he continued, smile slowly fading. “What we should be asking is, what _can_ we be to each other?”

Silence fell between them. He could see Ember experience the same sensation he had, of all the problems the world (well, two worlds) would give them intruding onto her thoughts again. She wasn’t stupid, he knew. Ember would know the consequences of being caught with him like… like they both seemed to want, probably better than he would.

“… You know, sometimes I forget you have a brain, baby pop,” Ember joked after a while, her voice a little shaky. “I thought I’d have to tell you everything that might happen. Figured you’d be the type to just charge in and only figure out ‘oh no, bad things have happened’ afterwards.”

“I see you paid attention to my early years,” Danny smiled.

“And your recent ones. And your current ones. And now,” she recited with a smirk.

“Ouch. What can I say? When it matters, I notice. And when people I care about could get hurt… Well, normally I keep them out of it to protect them and that blows up in my face and I learn a lesson about trust or something,” he quipped. Dropping into their usual banter was… comforting.

“So, what, you figured trying to do that with me would blow up in your face _and_ get you decked by me?”

“Something like that. You’re... I don’t want you to get hurt, and you’d be the most in the crossfire if we… if people found out,” Danny said, looking her in her green eyes. “But I won’t make that decision for you. And I’ll do what I can to help, but the risk is always gonna be there. There’s always a chance this paints a target on you.”

“So… so what if there wasn’t anything?” Ember asked, face turning serious.

“… what do you mean?”

“I mean,” she said, turning properly to face him and inching closer. “What if the problems didn’t exist? What if we beat the Zone into submission or we decided the heck with it, let’s fake our deaths and go live in Cuba? What if it was just us? What would _you_ want us to be then?”

He knew she was trying to stall again, evade the problem, but Danny suddenly became aware of how close the two of them were to each other, and how much of that gap they’d both been closing as the conversation went on.

Awareness of the fact did not stop him leaning his head in close to Ember’s own.

“If it were just us, I’d… I’d want us to…” Danny tried, but found he was just completely lost in her eyes as they got ever closer to his own, near enough that he could feel the heat from her hair and near enough that their lips were almost-

_Bonk!_

“Ow!” Danny yelled as something struck the side of his head. “What the heck?!”

“Hey!” Ember shouted, shooting to her feet and glaring at the treeline. “We were having a _moment,_ you jerks! You don’t get to hock stuff at us!”

“Whoa, Ember, knock it off!”

“No! If we’re already rumbled, I’m at least beating the heck out of whoever decided to start hurling trash at us!”

“It’s fine. Here, look.”

Ember’s impending vengeance was ended when she saw what Danny was holding as he rubbed at his head where it had hit. A mechanical owl, all burnished steel and green glow, the hallmark of Fenton technology.

“What the heck is that?”

“Something me and mom built together. Copies my ghost sense and leads people to the nearest ghost or tracks a specific one. Haven’t used him much, just because I’m usually around.” Danny explained, fiddling with the some of the panels on the owl, eventually prising one off. “What are you doing here, Archimedes?”

“Pft. Archimedes? Seriously?” Ember snickered.

“Hey, it was my mom’s favourite movie to watch with me when I was a kid, hush up.” He retorted absently, poking a button on the owls chest. The eyes suddenly flared to life and the beak opened up.

“ _Danno!_ ” The unmistakeable voice of Jack Fenton blared through. “ _We’ve got a code alpha-theta, incoming division of gamma! Repeat, code alpha-theta, incoming division of gamma! Recommend escape plan beta!_ ”

“Oh, for the love of…” Danny groaned. “At some point I’ve got to try and hammer it through dads head that we don’t need codes. Just talk plainly!”

“He do this a lot?”

“Yeah, everything has to be this weird formalised military code when we’re out ghost hunting, it’s ridiculous. He never quite focuses on the important stuff. Like this, he could have just _said_ ‘all other communications have been blocked, incoming Guys in Whi-’“

Danny’s face froze as he realised exactly what his dads code riddled speech was trying to tell him.

“… Ah.”

“So your _pops_ isthe one who doesn’t focus on the important stuff, huh?” Ember snarked.

“Oh, shut up,” Danny groaned, before dropping Archimedes, and rocketing back towards the main courtyard, Ember hot at his heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny's not had to punch anyone in the face for a while. Let's fix that.
> 
> If anyone was wondering, Tucker was dressed as Morpheus and Star was Penelope Pitstop. And boy do I love fanfiction for letting those two be in the same room as Kitty and have it make sense.
> 
> Next chapter I'm gonna be trying something a little different, and it'll be interesting to see how it goes. 
> 
> Do drop a comment, I enjoy hearing all your thoughts and knowing you're still following along!


	17. Payback: Red, White and Blue

“You know, dipstick, when Kitty pitched me this party idea, I didn’t see this happening,” Ember snarked.

“What, and you think I did?” Danny retorted. “This was not how I planned to spend my evening!”

“I dunno,” Ember said, plucking at the stands of the net. “This seems like the kind of thing you’d be into.”

“Oh, like you’re not enjoying being tied up with me. You love it, admit it.”

“Great, I hadn’t felt the urge to strangle you in a while, thanks.”

“Better not,” Danny cautioned. “Then we’d be rolling around in this net together, ‘wrestling’. Imagine the tabloids if we get discovered.”

“Good point. I am _way_ too young for that kind of scandal.”

“How old are you, anyway?”

“Would you two please shut up,” a man in a white suit, stationed over a portable piece of lab equipment, muttered as he meticulously polished the dials.

“Never!” Danny cried. “You capture me, you get my lip. Ask Ember, she knows.”

“Boy, do I know…” Ember groaned, rolling her eyes. She’d have made a more overt gesture were the net not difficult to move in.

Eh, maybe they were being a little too blasé about the whole situation – the GIW’s less than stellar record was well known, but they _did_ kind of have them bang to rights. Ember wasn’t about to give these idiots in white anything resembling respect, though. Neither was baby pop, which she was _delighted_ by. Always a joy to see him butt heads with authority. Besides, their Marx Brothers routine was comforting, in a way. Guess no matter what else happens, this isn’t changing.

If she were being honest with herself, she could do with a little bit of that comfort right now. Their conversation got cut off by the owl bashing Danny in the head (in hindsight, ridiculously funny, but not the time to laugh at him. That comes later), but it was pretty obvious to her where it was going. Ember felt a little adrift, unsure of herself. She wasn’t used to… _not_ rejection. Rejection she knew how to cope with, expected it even. Reciprocation, though? That was _new_.

 _(Oh, but there’s still the chance he’ll do the ‘responsible’ thing and nip it aaaaall in the bud,_ a voice in the back of Ember’s mind whispered nastily).

Much as she wanted to just wave the voice off, she couldn’t deny that it might happen. Dipstick had even _spelled out_ why he would, that dating would be too dangerous, for her more than him – then he’d shattered her expectations _again_ by saying it wasn’t his choice, but hers. Respecting her ability to make her own choice was new, too. Skulker sure as heck didn’t.

So yeah. She was a little out of her comfort zone and messing with some government goons ( _with your baby pop,_ her brain supplied) was just the thing she needed. Especially when she thought back to how they’d even got their hands on the pair.

* * *

_“Alright, Star, Jazz, is that all of the people safe?” Danny asked into the group call, floating above the street beyond the graveyard. Fenton-tech based communication was, indeed, blocked entirely, as was any other signal coming in or out of Fenton Works, so they’d switched over to regular cell phone coverage to co-ordinate. He wondered briefly why they hadn’t blocked that on a wider scale but waved it aside. Presumably, that would be too suspicious. It was only by grace of his parent’s contingency plans and Archimedes they knew they were coming, after all._

_“Yep! Just got the last person out of the graveyard and heading home,” Star chirped, sounding too cheerful for an emergency evacuation scenario. Maybe that really was what she was like all the time. They hadn’t been friends long enough for him to tell, but Danny looked forward to finding out._

_“Good, great work” he responded. “Sam, Tucker, did you get Vlad’s portal open again?”_

_“Yeah, man, got it open and me and Kitty have been funnelling the ghosts through. No problems this end.”_

_“Last group got delayed,” Sam cut in. “One of the GIW vans realised they’d been found out and caught up to us.”_

_“Darn. Anyone get hurt?”_

_“No, Technus wrecked it before anyone could do anything. He also grabbed every bit of tech they had before I could stop him, so that’s gonna come back to bite us.”_

_“Probably,” Danny sighed. “OK, me and Ember will get out of sight and teleport back to her realm. If they’re blocking Fenton-tech I’m probably on their list tonight, so I’ll stay there overnight.”_

_“Oh, will you now? Don’t remember offering that, dipstick,” Ember called from over his shoulder, tone amused._

_“Fine, I’ll make my own realm, with spaceships and constellations and no smelly blue girls allowed,” Danny deadpanned. “Either way, we’re outta here. See you all later.”_

_He paused over the end call button, before adding “And thanks, everyone.”_

_“Mostly me!”_

_“Yeah, mostly you, Kitty,” he chuckled. “This was fun.”_

_He hung up, and turned back to an impatient but smirking Ember, arms crossed._

_“You about done, baby pop? ‘Cause we’ve got an army of poorly trained government ghost hunters with needlessly large guns nipping at our heels. Dunno if you’ve forgotten.”_

_“Completely slipped my mind. Come on, there’s an alley this way, no cameras so we’ll be off grid there,” he motioned his hand downwards to the street, floating in that direction. “… You know, if you’re really not comfortable with me staying the night, I can go somewhere else- “_

_“Oh, fine, you’ve talked me into it,” she grinned at him. “I got a surprise for you back at my place anyway. But you’re staying in a spare room. I’m a good girl.”_

_“See this? This is my skeptical face.”_

_“OK, I’m not that kind of bad girl. Happy?”_

_“Ec- “Danny started, before rounding the corner into the off the grid alley and into the barrel of a net gun. “-static. Um. Hi?”_

* * *

“When we get out of this, we should probably leave out that we got caught by surprise by these idiots,” Ember mused.

“Idiots?!” The suit at the console asked, finally looking up from whatever he’s doing on the piece of equipment.

“Already mentally erased that part, but thanks for the suggestion. Although how are we going to explain getting kidnapped?” He asked conversationally, absently slapping the back of his left hand with his right. Ember could _swear_ she heard something beep inside the fencing glove but decided to avoid drawing attention to it.

“Deliberately caught to find out what they’re up to?” Ember proposed.

Danny scrunched his face. “Eh, that is kinda the plan, but I don’t think people believe anyone ever actually _does_ that.”

“This isn’t a capture mission,” the suit exclaimed, annoyed at being ignored. “We _clearly_ don’t have the set up here for long term containment.”

Ember looked around at the GIW camp. That _was_ probably true.

She wasn’t sure exactly where they were – she hadn’t bothered getting to know the geography of modern Amity all that well anyway, and this wasn’t _her_ forest, but it was _a_ green space of some kind. They’d set themselves up in a large clearing surrounded by clusters of pine trees, around thirty or so GIW around, most in the white business attire that characterised them, but a few in their weird hazmat suits, either scurrying around the various bits of equipment or standing guard.

Although Ember was insulted that they didn’t seem to think they needed to guard them specifically. She’d seen a few groups come and go, patrolling the perimeter, so maybe forty total? A lot for the two of them, but kind of undermanned for the number of ghosts at the party.

The whole operation was clustered around a metal platform made up of a few interlocking plates and a flippin’ enormous storage crate in the middle of said platform, directly in front of where the two in the net had been dumped. The whole setup looked easy to put up and pull apart – so this was a quick in and out for the not too bright but brightly dressed ghost hunters.

“Yeah, we noticed that” Danny replied, nonchalantly. “In a bit of a hurry, too. That thing you’re cleaning, it’s an EMF reader, right? Those things are useless for tracking ghosts, been outdated for at least half a decade now. What, budget didn’t stretch to something effective?”

“Betcha they spent it all on dirt proof suits, baby pop,” Ember cracked, getting a laugh from Danny and a glare from the one watching them.

“That would explain why they’re always clean. Hey, K, do you guys spend all your money on keeping your suits clean?” Danny shouted over to one of the other suited agents, a tall bald man with dark skin and an oversized blaster talking to one of the hazmat goons.

“O, would you stop talking budget with the entities?” K replied, his teeth gritting.

“Good grief, they _do,_ Em, you called it!” Danny laughed, Ember joining him a second later.

“Ladies and gentlemen, your tax dollars at work!” She cackled. “A score of goons with nothing to do, and equipment about as useful as Johnny doing taxes, but it’s fine, look – our agents are really rocking the eighties chic!”

K stalked over to his partner, the increasingly incensed O, as the pair of ghosts kept laughing at their expense. Both agents glared at each other for a brief while, before seeming to come to an agreement. The duo approached the laughing teens, identical scowls bearing down on them.

“You’re not here to make with the funny, Phantom,” O spat.

“No, really? And here was me thinking you stuck me in a net for my stand-up set,” Danny snarked. “Can’t think of any other reason you’d decide capturing one of the most well-known people on Earth was a good career move.”

“The most well-known _freak_ ,” O sneered. “ _You_ weren’t our target, but I don’t think the new director is going to mind if we use you for some weapons testing.”

“We’re shaking in our boots, O,” Ember drawled, before she suddenly sniggered. “Heh, O and K. I just noticed. Did they put you guys together just for the pun?”

“Never heard that one before,” K deadpanned.

“See, they _do_ have a sense of humour, pay up,” Ember said smugly to her companion, who rolled his eyes.

“Fine, I’ll pay when I’m not dressed like a pirate. Until then, I’d like to know how exactly you fanatics plan to justify disintegrating me. Assuming you’ve even got something that can. I thought I was off your radar indefinitely since the whole ‘saving all of Earth’ thing.”

“Isn’t he humble,” Ember commented drily.

“We regret to say that Phantom was caught in the crossfire of an official operation he was interfering in,” K spouted, already sounding like he’d learned the speech by rote. “At this time, we’d like to remind the public that ghosts are a dangerous business and best left to government professionals. Our condolences to the Fenton family.”

“… You’ve been working on that for a while, huh?” Ember queried.

“O, they need extra assistance attaching the back-up power to the new equipment. We were drafted before the freaks started mouthing off,” K said, ignoring the two ghosts. “Move out.”

“Rude!” Danny shouted at their retreating backs, before turning his head to Ember. “Well, that was enlightening.”

“I was only paying enough attention to insult them, baby pop. You got a plan to get us out of this? ‘Cause I’ve got nothing.”

Danny shrugged. “Depends. Can you fight in that dress?”

Ember looked down. Oh yeah, she was still in the masquerade dress. No way was she ruining this one. Her and Kitty had spent _ages_ tracking down the right look – disguising to people who didn’t know her, revealing to those that did. Although, given how Danny had looked at her, she was starting to think he’d know her no matter how she tried to hide. It worried as much as it excited her. People didn’t _get_ that close to her; not so close they could see through her. It wasn’t normal.

Anyway. Moving on. She’d need this dress in the future. The Comtesse was too fun to be.

Blue flame seemed to scorch at the edges of the dress, and swept across it, lighting the whole thing aflame until the fire vanished, leaving Ember in her usual black leathers, her hair swept up into its usual ponytail. She flexed the fingers of her gloved hand to loosen the stiff material. Teleporting clothes was always handy.

“Oh, cool!” Danny grinned. “Can you change mine as well?”

“I _can_ , yeah,” Ember replied, making no move to do so.

“… Are you going to?”

“Nope,” she said, looking him up and down as much as she could with the limited space available and smirking widely. “I’m enjoying this while I still can.”

She tried not to laugh at his oh so obvious blush and attempts to hide it from her. If there was one part of her that was only rejoicing at their new, somewhat awkward circumstance, it was definitely the part that enjoyed teasing him.

Which, now she thought of it, was most of her.

“Oh, whatever,” he mumbled, looking away, and shaking his head, trying to get his mind back into focus. It belatedly occurred to Ember that perhaps distracting her best hope of getting out of this without being experimented on, shot or worse was maybe a bad idea.

As if that would stop her.

“C’mon, Captain Phantom, you got anything up those loose sleeves of yours? Besides those strong arms, I mean?” She teased, rubbing her shoulder against his arm as she did and cackling to herself as she _felt_ him heat up. Which, considering he was currently in ghost mode, should be impossible.

Oooo, this was going to be a _fun_ way to play with him.

“ _Anyway,”_ Danny interjected loudly, drawing some glares from the nearby agents and some giggles from Ember before quieting down. “Getting out of this net’s the easy bit. Well, easy for me. You too, probably. Give it, oh, two minutes or so before we try.”

“What’re we supposed to do ‘till then?”

“Oh, I don’t know, I can think of a few ways to pass the time being tied up with a beautiful girl…” He turned his head and grinned at her, despite his own blush refusing to subside, and she could feel the ectoplasm rushing to her cheeks as he did.

No fair. He wasn’t supposed to turn this against her! Fine then, flirting was a game and she was gonna win!

( _And of course, it’ll distract you, won’t it,_ the insidious little voice she could never completely silence whispered, _from all the little fears you managed to shunt to the side. Such a brave girl to pretend you don’t care you might get thrown from the only home you’ve ever felt safe in for someone you think will toss you aside when he sees how pathetic you really are.)_

She took a mental hammer to the irritating little voice and hesitated. Bull rushing past it and the insecurities it gave voice to usually worked out for her, so she would normally just do the opposite of what it thought she would do. But the flirting was fun! Darn it…

“Why’s the net going to be easy for us?” She asked instead, legitimately curious. It stung a little when he deflated at the sudden cessation of their… steamier than usual banter, but he recovered quickly and shrugged, almost playfully.

“You’re smart, I’m sure you can figure it out,” he smiled. “It’s all about trade-offs with how you make it. You can make a net that can’t be phased through, and you can make it strong enough that we can’t just rip it apart, but you can’t make it resist _everything._ ”

She huffed in annoyance. “You get no points for being cryptic, dipstick. Come on, tell me.”

“Mmmmm,” he said, pondering. “Nah. You’ve got till backup arrives, then I can show you.” Danny paused; his head cocked to the side. “Which is gonna be about thirty seconds. Quicker than I thought.”

“Backup?” Ember queried, confused. She could hear something too, a whining noise on the air that was slowly but surely growing in volume. “What backup? I thought you said your folks were probably stuck at home. And the bright white morons were blocking all signals.”

“Blocking all _Fenton_ signals, yeah,” he confirmed, his hands reaching out to grip the front of the net. Ember felt the air around them get colder, and she suddenly realised what he’d meant about not being able to resist everything.

It was probably hard to make something that could cope with extreme, rapid temperature changes.

“ _TechnOS_ signals, on the other hand, are much harder to stop.”

The whining noise resolved itself into the scream of an engine as the red and black figure of Valerie Gray careened at full speed towards the GIW camp, roaring defiance with arms thrust forward as beams of energy streaked from the blasters attached to the wrists. The red blasts ripped into the ground, kicking up clouds of earth that scattered with a sound like rain across the clearing, masking the startled cries and shouted orders of the government funded hunters.

The night lit up with the return fire, a barrage of multicoloured beams that the Red Huntress dodged and weaved through expertly on her flying board. The floating… Ember decided to call them murder cubes span around and fired, striking the stray equipment, and forcing the GIW to dive for cover.

From orderly operation to slipshod chaos in less than ten seconds. Ember had to give it to Crazy Red up there, she made for a heck of a good distraction, and they didn’t waste time taking advantage of it.

Danny’s hands flashed a bright, cold blue and frost spread like, ironically enough, wildfire, embedding itself in the ecto-proof metal in an instant. With a single motion of his arms, Danny tore the now brittle net apart. Before the fragments even hit the ground, he leapt forwards, colliding into the nearest hazmat suited agent, ripping the gun from his grip, grabbing his front and launching him into the air. Exactly when Crazy Red had gotten close enough, Ember couldn’t tell, but suddenly she was there above Danny, reaching out a fist to smash the agent back down to Earth as she sped past.

“Hey!” Valerie yelled as she spun in the air and came to a stop above Danny. “I thought we told you the last time you snooped around – this is _our_ patch!”

“Guess our strongly worded memo didn’t get through,” Danny snarked, smashing one fist into his palm. “Let’s underline it for them.”

The agents clustered together into groups of three or four in front of the trio, levelling their weapons almost mechanically, distinct beats and rhythms to their motions. Training drilled into them and not much field experience, Ember supposed.

Amateurs.

Danny held both palms out and blasted the metal floor, throwing up a cloud of smoke between the agents and himself. The staccato drum beat of ectogun fire echoed three times, the blasts passing through the smoke and striking nothing as the Red Huntress shot upwards and Danny fell through the earth. It looked practiced, like this was a usual tactic the pair employed against multiple opponents.

Ember wondered how bad she was about to mess it up.

The ghost rocker turned intangible and emerged through the obfuscating fog, sliding on her knees towards the nearest cluster, leaning back with her guitar in hand. The startled GIW shifted aim with rather less practiced motions, trying to track her as she seemed to glide across the platform. OK, fine, she actually _was_ gliding. Power sliding on metal in leather is tricky enough without the added threat of getting shot.

The instant she was through the gun line of agents, she solidified and slammed her hand down on the strings of her guitar, a power chord ripping through the night as a sphere of sonic force erupted out from her. White suited goons flew backwards, guns flying from their grip as Ember rose from her slide and swung her guitar at one of the falling ones, punting him into the nearest cluster of agents that got their act together quicker than the others. He careened into them, knocking the three over like bowling pins.

The remaining agents recovered, training their guns on the ghost girl. She took to the sky, spinning and whirling through the air to avoid them, batting blasts aside with her guitar.

“Come on, Jack Fenton shoots better!” She sneered down at the assembled throng.

The offended agents redoubled their efforts, glaring at Ember for their hurt professional pride. Any attempts at salvaging their dignity were rendered entirely fruitless as a pair of white gloved hands emerged from the earth and grasped at the ankles of two of them. Before they could react beyond a surprised look downwards, Danny erupted upwards, using both his captives like flails to knock the others to the ground, a massive grin on his face.

Ember didn’t think she’d seen a single more attractive sight than that grin as baby pop beat those goons with those other goons.

Her reverie was interrupted by the screaming of the Red Huntress’ engines as she dropped down from the sky at speed, pulling the board up at the last minute to skim across the ground, her murder cubes darting in all directions and bludgeoning foes upsides the head as the Huntress herself leapt from her board, which retracted into her boots, and dropped her elbow hard on the head of one, knocking him clean out with a fierce laugh.

“Woo!” She laughed, turning her helmeted head to Danny. “I’m _so_ glad we picked up some Muay Thai!”

“Right? I feel like I’ve been missing out, not hitting things with my knees this whole time,” Danny replied, dropping his now unconscious improvised weapons to launch acid green beams at further clusters. The agents managed to avoid his longer ranged blasts, and his expression became more concerned, eyes darting to left, right, until they alighted downwards.

“Oh, like you use your legs as it is,” Valerie scoffed, smiling at him through the visor, raising an arm behind her to blast a rising agent without looking at him. “Seriously, I have to make you kick thi- What’re _you_ still doing here?”

The Red Huntress turned a glare on Ember, who bristled at the accusatory tone. Before she could reply, however, the screech of rending metal filled the space as Danny ripped one of the panels making up the platform from its place, slamming the jagged edged hunk into the ground.

“She’s taking cover like _we_ are, that’s what she’s still doing here!” he shouted, as Ember realised the element of surprise was lost and the remaining agents – she counted nine or so down, either unconscious or otherwise incapacitated – got themselves properly organised, overlapping their fire to pin the ghost, half ghost and angry human behind Danny’s hastily erected metal barricade.

“Anyone got a plan?” Ember hollered, as she fired several pink blasts from her hands around the edge, stopping the agents from coming around to fire at them. Her aim left a lot to be desired – she was used to firing from her guitar, after all, but she was scaring them well enough. “Please tell me running isn’t on the table.”

Valerie made a snort, sending a cube above them to fire, and smirking at the cries of the agents that resulted. “As if. Give these guys one win and they’ll think they can walk over the whole place.”

“And I wasn’t leaving the instant I heard the words ‘target’ and ‘weapons testing’ out of O,” Danny added, his hands flashing blue as ice walls appeared, shoring up the sides and giving the three more room to manoeuvre. “They’ve got something nasty and wanted to turn it on someone else. We need to know what and who, and ideally blow up the former.”

“Good,” Ember nodded, grinning evilly. “Just so we’re all on the same page about blasting them in the face.”

“Right, like _you’re_ not on my list of problems, ghost,” Valerie shot back, narrowing her eyes.

“I dunno what your problem is, you crazy- “Ember started angrily, jabbing a finger into the hunters’ chest before it was batted aside, and Valerie pointed her wrist cannon in Ember’s face.

“My _problem_ is I’m stuck between a group of _morons_ who think numbers and big guns make up for no talent and the girl who tried to kidnap my dad and brainwash the world, that’s my problem!”

“This coming from little miss ‘oh, a crate full of expensive ghost hunting gear sent to me, a fourteen-year-old, let me just take that and not ask any questions at all’!” Ember retorted; her glowing pink fist held up under the helmet.

“Can we maybe focus on the people trying to kill us right this second, please?” Danny entreated exasperatedly, forcing himself between the two girls. “I don’t care if you only trust each other as far as you can… no, wait, I mean, as far as I can… as far as _Paulina_ can throw either of you! Beat up the government first, cat fight later!”

Ember glared daggers past Danny at the huntress, who returned the look with equal venom. Eventually though, her eyes were inexorably drawn to Danny’s own green ones, pleading with her to stop. She huffed out a sigh.

“Fine, baby pop. Fine. So, what do we do? Just sit here and pick ‘em off one by one?”

“No, too slow. The longer we wait, the more time their back up has to arrive,” Danny said decisively.

“Don’t suppose you feel like using your brainwashing for something other than yourself, McLain?” Valerie muttered, her wrist cannons firing at the agents attempting to approach.

 _Don’t punch her face off, don’t punch her face off,_ Ember echoed in her head as she took a deep breath.

“Tried it already,” she replied, trying to keep her tone neutral. “Those earpiece things they’re wearing are doing the same thing the headphones did the first time.”

“Filter out ghost noise,” Danny supplied.

“Yeah, that. They’re immune unless you can shoot ‘em off.”

She decided to leave out that the thought of reaching out to someone else’s mind and making them do her bidding felt _wrong_ to her now. Greasy and sickly, like rotten meat. She didn’t think the hunter would believe her. She didn’t even believe herself.

The Red Huntress paused for a moment, her lips moving silently as she tried to work out the viability of that, before shaking her head. “Nah, not worth trying,” she said, returning to her suppressive fire.

“Don’t kid yourself, you couldn’t make that kind of shot,” Ember scorned.

“She probably could,” Danny said matter-of-factly, to Ember’s incredulous stare. “Just not when we’re pinned. We need to disrupt them. Only problem there is we can’t all phase and they’re probably wise to the up through the ground trick by now. Even if they’re not, there’s too many, we’d just end up doing the same thing again.”

“Kinda leaves us with a whole lot of nothing, Phantom,” Valerie commented.

“We need a new player…” Danny mumbled, his finger to his chin. Suddenly he let loose a happy gasp and snapped his fingers, before turning to the red clad hunter excitedly.

“Valerie! Valerie!”

“We’re _working,_ Phantom,” she said, with such a tone of affection that Ember felt her hackles rise again in spite of herself. This was perhaps a bad time to get upset about missing what seemed to be an in-joke. Or jealous, there might be a little of that as well. Just a little.

“Fine,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “Red Huntress, Red Huntress!”

“Yes, Phantom?” She said, drawing out the two words. Definitely an in-joke.

“I want to see my little boy!”

“… What?” Ember raised a confused eyebrow.

Valerie grinned widely, and retracted the visor of her helmet, reaching down a hand to grab something resting on the hip of her suit, pulling it up to her face. It was long and thin, decked out in Valerie’s usual colour scheme and protruding here and there with bits of technology.

It looked, to Ember at least, like a… dog whistle?

“Here he comes!” Valerie cried, bringing the whistle to her lips, and blowing hard.

At first, nothing seemed to happen, the only sights and sounds the coloured lasers of the GIW flying past them or making the occasional _spang_ noise as it collided with their metal cover. Baby pop, though, was whipping his head in all directions, including peeking through the cover while intangible. The heck had him so excited?

Then she heard something in the far distance. Like fingers drumming on wood repeatedly and getting louder and louder. Some of the agents seemed to hear it as well, their fire slowing as several turned to face the treeline where the sound was coming from, guns at the ready for whatever was making that noise.

Ember imagined they were grateful for the mandatory sunglasses with the GIW uniform when a huge green shape burst through, shattering a tree into splinters that flew in all directions. The thing didn’t slow down, ploughing through the agents in its path, making a beeline for their improvised cover and blowing the organised response to the wind as the white suited figures panicked at this sudden intrusion from…

 _Oh, so this is where Cujo went,_ a part of Ember’s mind observed dispassionately.

She’d wondered where the little green pup had vanished to. He’d been such a fixture of the Zone since he’d arrived, usually playful unless you managed to annoy him. She’d assumed the latter was how he managed to get his name, although nobody knew who _had_ named him that, just that it was what he responded to now.

The great green canine charged through their barricade, teeth bared in a snarl before his eyes alighted on Danny and, to Ember’s annoyance, Valerie. The instant he caught sight of them the snarl vanished, replaced by happy panting. The huge attack dog shrunk down to puppy size and ran around the Huntress’ heels, yipping happily.

“Aw, there’s my good boy,” Danny cooed, reaching down to pet the excited Cujo. “Aren’t you a good boy? Have you been good for your momma?”

Cujo barked, tail wagging fiercely.

“Yes, he’s been a very good lab wrecking pup, haven’t you?” She beamed, scratching under his chin, before she stood to her full height, expression turning stern. “Now, boy! You see those people in white suits?”

The pup barked once, posture rigid like it was a soldier on the parade ground, and Valerie grinned viciously. “Sic ‘em.”

The next few minutes were a blur for Ember, filled with reflexive guitar blasts, punching agents in the gut, the sound of terrified shouting and haphazard guns blasts filling the night. Cujo was exactly the distraction they needed. GIW training evidently didn’t cover how to avoid panicking when approached by wild animals. From what little she’d bothered to figure out, they just slapped a disdain for all ghosts into their recruits and hoped hate would trump fear.

Not so useful when the ghost in question was a two-ton, _extremely aggressive_ attack dog, backed up by two ghosts on the high end of the power scale and the currently very territorial Red Huntress.

Between the sonic blasts, the drones, Cujo and the endless, endless mockery, the remaining members of the Guys in White who weren’t just out and out unconscious were beating a hasty retreat, several with the ghost dog nipping at their heels for good measure. Ember dropped from the air, nudging one of the downed ones with her boot.

“Welp,” she said. “Guess there goes asking ‘em any questions any time soon, baby pop. These ones’re out like a light.”

Danny rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Yeah, we, um, we may have lost track of what we were supposed to be doing.”

“I didn’t,” Valerie chimed in, the grin plastered over her face sharpened by battle adrenaline. “Screw ‘em, they don’t get to come to our city calling themselves trained hunters and do this badly against just three ghosts.”

“Two and a half,” Danny and Ember quipped simultaneously, glancing at each other in surprise before grinning. Valerie scowled, her attention returned to the blue haired elephant in the room, Ember returning the expression with gusto.

“I already regret accepting there would be a catfight later,” he muttered as he slapped a hand to his face. “You two! No! Don’t make me get the spray bottle!”

“How is that a threat?” Ember retorted, not taking her eyes from the hunter.

“The _Fenton_ spray bottle!”

Valerie shuddered. “Dear God, no, not _that_ again _,_ spaceman, please.”

“Well, fine, if you _don’t_ want aerosolised ectoplasm in your eyes, then knock off the oestrogen contest!” Danny said firmly, raising a hand to point at the both of them. “We’ve still got to wake up one of these guys, find out what they were after and where their new wea-“

“ _Systems online.”_

The rumbling electronic voice had barely echoed across the clearing when a bright blue beam seared through the night, striking Danny in the back and rocketing him forward. He hit the ground hard and rolled a few times before planting a fist in the earth to stop himself. He attempted to rise, but collapsed onto the ground again, groaning.

“Baby pop!” Ember shouted in dismay, flying as fast as she could to his side and propping his head up. “You good? Come on, you’ve had worse!”

“Did anyone get the number of that bazooka…” He mumbled, shaking his head. Ember choked back a laugh. This was probably not the time to laugh at his stupid, stupid jokes. Her eyes darted back to where the beam came from. A smirking, triumphant O, standing next to a small computer console attached to the side of the slowly unfolding storage crate.

And inside the crate…

Ember’s eyes widened.

“Baby pop? Do, uh, your parents sell _everything_ they’ve ever made?”

“Bweh?” Danny eloquently replied, shaking his head. “Um, no? They keep back the really dangerous stuff.”

“Oh. Well that’s good. Now we have no explanation for why the Guys In White have a _freaking Ectoskeleton!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a touch of the old writers block on this one, but here we are!
> 
> Yeah, the something different was Ember’s perspective on things this time. Not sure how often I’m going to do it, but it was a different experience to write.
> 
> Do drop a comment and let me know what you think! Always happy to get them no matter the content!


	18. Payback: Stalling Tactics

This was bad.

**BOOM.**

This was _very, very bad._

Ember dove and spun through the air as the searing blue beams erupted towards her, whining with contained energy as they did. Down beneath her, she watched as Danny and the Red Huntress dodged the same blasts, earth bursting into the sky like an eruption wherever the beams struck. The Guys in White’s Ectoskeleton had been active for a minute at most, and already the place looked like it had been shelled.

How they got one was still beyond Ember. At least baby pop had confirmed his folks weren’t quite absent minded enough to let the plans for the deadliest ghost weapon they’d ever devised out, but where this one came from was more of a long-term problem, and one Ember didn’t much care about. She was much more focused on a), surviving the next five minutes and b), _why had they dressed the thing in a suit._

Because they _had_. It mostly looked like the armour she recognised, the same outfit Danny had used to fight the Ghost King, when… well, when she’d seen him as more than an enemy, put it that way. The glass dome was gone, replaced by armour panelling that was encrusted with cameras and nondescript sensors, but besides that the only visible change was that they’d tailored an enormous white dress suit and a tie that could be used as a sheet for a king-sized bed. Even when they were threatening, the GIW were ridiculous.

She twisted the dial on her guitar and played a power chord, sending an ectoplasmic fist speeding to the robotic giant. The fist collided with the front of the robot, and it slid backwards slightly, its armoured feet leaving deep grooves in the dirt. The Ectoskeleton tilted upwards and it snapped its arm in her direction, firing a burst of lasers into the sky.

Ember dropped to the ground inside one of the craters along with Danny and, to her distaste, Valerie. Danny’s face was marked with blood and ectoplasm – he’d taken a few hits already, getting between the Huntress or Ember and the beams when they looked on target, and his shield could only take so many direct hits. Specifically, precisely one before it shattered, a shard cutting his face before dissipating.

“Well, what’s the plan, spaceman?” Valerie asked of Danny, pointedly ignoring Ember tuning her guitar next to her as she popped her wrist cannons and examined them. “Because I’ve got nothing for taking something like this down.”

Ember laughed. Why would _Danny_ have a plan for this? He was a lot of things, but forward thinking wasn’t among them.

The quip she was going to deliver on the subject died on her lips when she saw the look on his face. It was bruised and smeared with blood and ectoplasm, but she'd recognise that demeanour anywhere. Ember had gotten so used to seeing Danny, the laid-back, friendly goofball, the guy who just wanted to make the people he cared about happy and didn't mind making an idiot of himself to do it. It had been a while since she'd seen _Phantom_ , and here he was. All focus and determination, eyes racing all around looking for an edge, a plan, a way to come out on top no matter what he was facing. And she'd never seen Phantom look at her like _this_ , like she was worth protecting no matter the cost…

Was it getting hotter? It was. It must be. Only explanation. Getting hotter in October. Right.

“It’s an exoskeleton, so target the joints; they have to be less armoured so the pilot can move properly,” he rattled off, near instantly in response to Valerie’s question. “They’ve taken out the glass cockpit and that doesn’t look like it’s a two-way material they’ve replaced it with, so the sensors are a big weakness, they can’t be protected too much if they’re going to do their job. We hit those hard enough, we’ll blind whoever’s in there and take their movement out of commission.”

… So he wasn’t kidding when he said he’s not an idiot. Huh.

“That everything you can think of?” Valerie questioned. “Or is this just going to be a whittle ‘em down type fight?”

Danny peeked over the lip of the crater they were taking cover in. “Hm. Maybe. O and K mentioned fitting a back-up power device. Since keeping the original method of powering the Ectoskeleton would be suicidal over any length of time, they’ve got to have some other means of powering it, but I’d have to try to spot it before I can go for it. They’ve not changed the design much else…”

“I bet you ten bucks it’s a couple thousand AA batteries in the lining of the suit, baby pop,” Ember drawled, to a chuckle from Phantom and a scowl from the Huntress.

“Were you even listening to that?” She admonished.

“Poke it in the eye and kick it in the knee,” Ember deadpanned.

“Close enouAAAAAAAA!” Danny shrieked as a mechanical hand reached over the mound of dirt and grabbed him. The white Ectoskeleton leaned back and hurled him skywards, before missiles burst from the knuckles of its fist, streaking towards the tumbling ghost boy. Danny lurched in the air, launching ectobeams desperately to destroy the projectiles as they sped towards him. The skies were filled with explosions as the missiles were blown apart. The force from the detonations was still enough to knock Phantom around some more, and he fell, landing heavily further away.

Whoever was piloting that thing was about to learn not to turn their back on an enraged ghost girl, especially when you’ve _hurt her baby pop._

Ember let loose an inarticulate scream of rage as she leapt from the crater, hair flickering as her hands danced on the guitar strings, a sustained sonic blast erupting from the instrument and striking the mech in the back of the knee. The mechanical suit dropped to one knee and creaked as its torso shifted around to face her as best it could. The nearest arm raised and burned with energy, but Ember found she didn’t care much. The guitar sang as another blast erupted from it, striking the Ectoskeleton where it’s head should be, knocking it off balance.

It fired as it fell, the blast blowing the ground underneath Ember to pieces and sending the ghostly rocker herself rocketing backwards, slamming hard into the lip of the crater. She snarled, and got to her feet, ignoring the pain, flipping the dial on the guitar once again. If they wanted to play like this, then _fine._ She was more than happy to hit them with the Grand Finale.

Before her hand could descend on the strings, however, the Red Huntress rose from the pit, high tech dog whistle at her lips, before pointing at the mech and screaming, “GET IT, CUJO!”

A deep, bone-rattling bark echoed, and the great green guard dog emerged from the ground underneath the Ectoskeleton, jaws clamping down on the outstretched arm. If a faceless robot could panic, the flailing of its arm trying to shake the ghost dog off would definitely qualify. Cujo held on tenaciously as the Huntress took to the skies, her board firing hundreds of tiny lasers that pattered all across the back of the colossus. Nothing seemed to damage the suit it was wearing, though, Ember noticed.

The pilot got their act together eventually, getting the mech back on its feet and levelling the other hand to blast the clingy guard dog. Cujo yelped in pain and sailed through the air, collapsing in a heap some way away. Embers already seething rage went up a few notches, and she whipped her hair around to flare it at the same knee she’d already battered, even as the Huntress rammed her board into the armour plating that had replaced the head.

“Hey! Don’t hurt my dog!” She roared, and her fists glowed a bright red as it came smashing down on a fragile looking sensor. Valerie was poised to do the same to the next one along until the arm came around to swat at her.

“ _Then don’t send your mutt against duly authorised government agents,_ ” an electronic voice rumbled from a speaker. Ember was fairly certain that was K, but it didn’t matter much when the suit backhanded Valerie into the sky. She spun a few times before reasserting control and directed the board in an arc around the Ectoskeleton, dodging return fire from the ectoweaponry and letting loose wrist ray blasts now and then.

Ember huffed in frustration, diving to the side to avoid the smaller, whirling lasers firing from the fingertips of the mech as they roiled towards her. They were getting nowhere fast against this thing, and for all that they’d manage to deal it some damage, it was still up, running and trying to kill them. Oh, screw this. If she didn’t at least _try_ , she’d regret it.

Ember floated above the earth and threw her hair out like a flamethrower once more, attempting with every degree of heat she possessed to just burn that irritating suit off the thing. She had no idea why the image of a suit on the robot annoyed her as much as it did. Maybe it was just making something that should be cool so conformist and formalised and _boring_. Go figure, she wasn’t one for introspection on things like this. Whatever. The suit must go.

Just as she was sure she was starting to make some progress, its attention shifted to her and the ground quaked as it stepped around, an arm sweeping across the ground as the blue beam burned in an arc. Exploding earth extinguished the fire mid-stream, and Ember scrambled into cover within a crater to avoid the next shot.

Well, there goes that plan, then. The Red Huntress was making some decent shots on the legs of the Ectoskeleton from the sky, but they didn’t appear to be doing much just yet.

A thundering boom echoed from the tree line as Danny rocketed out and rejoined the battle, acid green beams impacting hard on the shoulder joints. The thing staggered enough that it couldn’t redirect its weapons to fire at the incoming Phantom quickly enough. Sizzling blue arced past the ghost boy and Danny landed heavily on its chest, parking his face near a camera.

“Soooo, how did you guys get your hands on this, anyway?”

“ _I am not at liberty to divulge the source of-_ “

“Oh, don’t give me that,” Danny declared, smashing the camera he was looking into and shimmying across the shell to the next one, turning intangible to dodge the swatting hand. “I fought Pariah Dark in one of these, you’ve added weapons to it, but it’s the same basic suit. Patent theft, salvage from the one Jazz blew up at Vlad’s place, what?”

“ _The work of our science division is classified- “_

“Every time you avoid the question, I smash a gadget, K,” Danny said casually, destroying the nearest ghost sensor and crawling around to the shoulder of the suit. “Although I will give you guys this much credit, you at least made this one phase proof. That was a pretty big flaw origina- OH CRUD!” He screamed as the arm of the mech bent unnaturally backwards to bring its weapons to bear on him. Thin, swirling blue lasers erupted from its fingertips and made a bee line for him.

Danny dropped backwards and fell through the ground, the lasers puncturing the ground where he landed and leaving smoking pockmarks behind. He remerged next to Ember, who had taken advantage of the distraction Danny provided to resume her flaming assault on the marquee sized suit the Ectoskeleton was wearing, her hair curving over the lip of the crater to splash against the back of the mech.

“… Ember?”

“Yeah, baby pop?” She replied, adjusting the temperature of her hair upwards slightly. K had turned his focus on the Red Huntress and her more accurate energy bolts, more missiles launching from the knuckles, aimed at her board. The flying hunter ducked and dipped, before heading almost straight down, pulling up from the ground at the last second, snatching the now shrunken Cujo from the floor and sucking the poor pup into a thermos.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to burn that suit off.”

“OK. Why?”

“Because I hate it.”

“… Fair enough then.”

Ember turned her head to look at him curiously. “You’re not gonna try to stop me? Make me do something more useful?”

Danny grinned at her. “I’ve not been hit in the head hard enough to think I can _make_ you do anything.”

Ember smirked back. “You could _try,_ sure.”

“Nah, I won’t waste time. As if I’d ever want you to do anything other than be _you_ , anyway.”

Ember did _not_ blush, and she will happily clock anyone upsides the head with her guitar should they claim otherwise. Thankfully, a distraction was provided in the form of a change in pitch of the fire, sounding like fire was striking something a different surface. A subtle sound, only really noticeable if you tend to launch fire at a lot of things or were really, really looking for a change of subject.

Ember retracted her hair into her ponytail to see three things – first, the murder cubes were back out. They seemingly couldn’t fire particularly pinpointedly, as they kept striking the Ectoskeleton in the centre mass, but they provided a neat enough distraction. The second was that Crazy Red herself was still circling and firing repeatedly on the arm joints, which was starting to have at least some effect – the movements seemed stiffer as they tried to target the cubes and the Huntress, anyway. The third was the neat hole that had burned in the back of the white suit. Ember pumped her fist in victory. And visible through _that…_

“Bingo bongo!” Danny cried as he noticed the glowing green canister hastily welded to the back plating. “That’ll be the power source they mentioned.”

“Totally my plan all along,” Ember lied, not even bothering with a token effort at deceit.

“Sure, I believe… you…” Danny trailed off as the Ectoskeleton turned slowly in their direction. “Oh yeah. Thinking out loud bad in fight.”

“Ya think?”

Any rebuttal to that was lost in the rush to avoid the sudden wall of missiles that made a beeline straight for them. Sonic blasts and acid green beams darted in every direction as the pair hurled themselves away from the projectiles, blowing as many of them apart as they could, before one got past their collective guard and detonated. Danny and Ember crashed to the ground, groaning.

“Missiles… my only weakness…” Danny moaned.

“I think they’re everyone’s weakness, baby pop…” Ember grumbled, pushing herself to her hands and knees and grabbing onto Danny’s hand almost absently to phase them both as more energy beams sliced towards them. Both of them lurched to their feet and ran back away from their attacker, who stomped towards them purposefully, now ignoring the shots of the airborne Huntress. The outstretched arms blasted blue beams in every direction at the phased duo.

“We need a distraction!” Danny shouted as they fled. “Something attention grabbing so I can take out the power!”

“Look who you’re talking to, baby pop!” She roared at him. “I can get K’s attention! Just try not to be jealous another man is looking at me!”

“I make no promises!” He grinned back cheekily.

“Awww, and the same to you, baby pop. I’ll even let you watch me deal with your fangirls,” Ember smiled back at him, unabashedly. Screw the little voice in her head whispering insecurities, their version of flirting was fun, and she wasn’t going to stop.

“At last, a reason to win,” he said. Worryingly seriously. Ember should probably clarify she’s just going to scare them. “Alright, I’m gonna dive, good luck!”

With that, Danny let go of her hand (oh, was she was still holding that? How careless), and fell through the earth, leaving Ember to her part. K was still behind her, doggedly launching weapons at her whilst the diva dodged the beams and phased through everything else. Whoever invented weapons that could hit ghosts when they were phased was getting a _visit_ , she decided.

Wait, what if it was baby pops parents? Darn it, can’t exact vengeance for the whole of the Ghost Zone then. If she tried to seek revenge on them, they probably wouldn’t let Danny near her. The sacrifices she had to make…

Ember turned and strummed, spitting a volley of smaller energy blasts from her guitar at the encroaching battle armour. They peppered the surface of the thing, close enough to its fragile sensors that K had to cease his assault to guard the mech with its metallic arms as it advanced.

A few seconds without weapon fire was all Ember needed.

She twisted the dial on her guitar all the way to the end, to the setting marked ‘G.F’ and chucked the Ectoskeleton a smirk and a wink.

“This has been a great gig and I hate to go, but let’s wrap this up with a _bang_!”

She slammed her hand down on the strings hard and the earth _erupted_.

Colourful explosions blew out in an expanding concentric circle from Ember’s position, churning up the ground and lighting the night sky like fireworks, each timed to a strike of the chords. The wave of detonations crashed against the metallic suit, knocking it backwards into the next set of explosions, which promptly did the same. The Ectoskeleton was catapulted upwards in a haze of green fire, before slamming hard into the newly ploughed earth. A stream of sparks sprung into existence from around Ember as her fingers glided across the string, the sparks seeking the ‘face’ of the suit and slamming into it, the plating gradually growing red hot.

The mech staggered to its feet as swiftly as it was able. If it were capable of facial expression, it would no doubt be glaring at the ghost rocker right now, green-tinged sweat pouring like water down her face as she mustered a feral grin and brought her hand down on the strings one last time.

A column of blue flame burned through the ground behind Ember and twisted in the air, writhing like a burning snake, before diving downwards and engulfing the Ectoskeleton in a vast conflagration as Ember dropped her guitar and collapsed, panting on the ground.

She didn’t call that one her Grand Finale for nothing. Destructive, eye-catching, and really, _really_ draining. She’d never used against Danny for one reason or another, usually not absolutely destroying whatever was around her that she needed.

She sat up slowly, propping her arms on one need as she watched the fire rage where it had struck. It occurred to her, belatedly, that if baby pop didn’t come through, then she was kinda doomed. The thought that he might let her down had honestly never crossed her mind until she had to think about it. Guess Danny was full of firsts for her, ‘cause she had no-one else who was that instinctively trusted. It was a _weird_ feeling.

The fire seemed to part and die as the Ectoskeleton stepped unsteadily through it. Parts of the thing were red hot and glowing, and a few more of the sensors appear to have blown themselves apart, but none of that stopped it raising its fist to point at the prone Ember. Garbled static erupted from the partially melted speakers, before resolving itself into coherent speech.

“ _-ice try, ecto scum. Any last words before you get erased?”_

Ember glared back at the mech, allowing a slight smirk to cross her face. “Yeah. ‘Damnation seize my soul if I give you quarters or take any from you.’”

“ _… what?_ ”

“Means now’s a good time to sink this ship, baby pop!”

“Aye aye, captain!”

The air behind the Ectoskeleton shimmered, and Danny came into existence once again, lunging at the back of the colossus, the sword Kitty had given him drawn and glowing a bright green as he pumped it full of ecto-energy. He thrust it forward, burying the blade deep in the metal of the canister before the sword could contain the energy no longer and burst, the smaller detonation cascading into a larger one as the energy canister blew apart as Danny was blown away. The Ectoskeleton almost immediately dropped its arms as the joints locked and it became still, the metal pinging as it cooled.

“Well,” Danny said, brushing the dirt from his outfit and putting his hat back on. “That went better than I thought it would.”

“How’d you figure?” Ember asked, stretching her sore limbs. Oh, she was gonna regret this in the morning. Why Grand Finale left her drained and _aching_ , she didn’t know, and it annoyed her immensely. Another reason not to use the flipping thing, she supposed.

“We’ve still got all our limbs and Val isn’t among the dead or the halfway there,” he deadpanned, waving to the airborne Huntress to land before knocking on the motionless suit. “Now… you wanna open this tin can, or shall I?”

* * *

“… and that canister you blew up was just the prototype, the finished version is still missing!” K finished in a mild panic, which Ember figured was as close to freaking out as these stoic morons got. At Danny’s nod, she reluctantly flung the clump of mud she was holding above his suit jacket aside.

Turns out, getting information out of the GIW was _real_ easy if you remembered their neat freak tendencies.

“Thanks for your cooperation, K,” Danny said with cheery sarcasm. “Red, you got anything you want to add?”

“Yeah,” the Huntress growled, yanking the agent by his shirt and pointing a wrist cannon in his face. “Get out of our town, and _stay_ out this time! Got it?!”

“Yes, ma’am!” K squeaked, before Valerie released him and he made tracks with as much dignity as he could muster. Which, given the mud being hurled at him by a distinctly petty Ember, wasn’t an enormous amount.

“Stop being childish,” Valerie grumbled at the ghost girl.

“No,” was all she got in reply as the latest hastily made ball of mud collided with K’s back to a distant shriek.

“Nice shot,” Danny complimented, before turning serious. “So that was… worrying.”

“Mm,” Valerie replied, professional tone creeping into her voice again. “Who do we know who’d _want_ to steal an experimental ecto-energy battery from the GIW?”

“Is everyone too broad an answer?” Danny said flatly, before bringing up his hand to tick off names. “Technus, Spectra, Skulker, Youngblood, Walker, Lunch Lady, Nocturne… I can see all of them having a use for a near infinite power source except maybe Klemper and Undergrowth. If they hadn’t picked up ghost readings when the thing went missing, we couldn’t even limit it to ghosts who’d want it.”

Ember phased any mud remaining on her hand as the two went back and forth on potential suspects, rolling her eyes a little. Who cares who stole the GIW’s toy? It’s not like they had enough to go on anyway. At least K had coughed up where the Ectoskeleton had come from – where else, Vlad.

Apparently the vampiric halfa had stolen the Fenton’s blueprints at some point or another and had been working on ‘improving’ them around the time he’d been hurled into space. And if during the general seizure of Plasmius’ property, they happened to go missing, well, who would know. Between those and the remains of the one baby pops sister had piloted once (now that was a story she needed to hear), they’d built this one. And there probably wasn’t a thing they could do to stop them building more.

Missing on an asteroid and still making everyone’s life harder. The more things change, Ember thought…

She was shaken from her musings by Danny’s voice.

“Hm? You say something, baby pop?”

“Yeah, what was that huge display you put on to distract K? ‘Couple more of those, and I wouldn’t have to make like a pirate and stab it.”

“Like I was gonna miss that,” she snorted, having already committed the image of Danny in his pirate outfit with the sword out and wind ruffling the feather in his hat to memory. “Nah, it’s the last setting on my guitar, finishes off my shows with a bang. Can’t use it more than once, though, especially if I’ve not had a power boost any time soon.”

“Huh. Well, if you do let me book you a stage to play on, try to avoid using that, please?” Danny grinned, which she readily returned.

“Depends on the venue, bab-“

 _Click_.

“So that’s what’s going on, then,” Valerie said evenly, levelling her wrist cannon at Ember’s head.

“Val, what the heck?!” Danny shouted angrily, putting himself between the ghost rocker and the Huntress.

Because that’s who she was right now, Ember realised. In the same way she’d not seen Phantom for a while until tonight, Valerie had been too focused on the bigger threat of the GIW, been relaxed enough with Danny around that she hadn’t turned the obsessive focus and determination she was known for onto Ember in the way she’d probably wanted to. Now, without the distractions, she had the Red Huntress bearing down on her.

“I’ve been wondering all night,” the Red Huntress started as she began circling around slowly, trying to get her arm past Danny’s body blocking. Ember did the same, stepping around Danny, her eyes fixed on Crazy Red as she did, fingers flexing and unflexing. “What she did to worm her way into your life like she has, how she tricked you- “

“She _hasn’t,_ Val!” Danny interrupted, voice livid. Some small part of Ember was pleased at seeing the dipstick defend her this quick, but more of her was gearing up for a fight. “Why do you even think that?!”

“Before just this second, past behaviour!” She shot back. “Come on, Danny, you’re smarter than this, you know everything she’s done. You can’t tell me you _trust_ her!”

( _Aha_ , Ember’s nasty little voice returned, no longer held at bay by the need to fight, _this is where he’ll hum and haw and come up with some excuse or some qualification for why he doesn’t trust you, won’t he-_ )

“… Yeah,” Danny said, quietly, before he clenched his fists and glared at the Huntress. “Yeah, I _do_! I trust her!”

Ember struggled to keep the surprise and gratitude from her face at his words. It’d probably just get interpreted as an attempt at manipulation by the Huntress. Nothing could stop the warm bloom in her chest though, the slowly growing joy. This meant more than just having her feelings reciprocated, somehow. He _trusted_ her. Her, of all people!

Valerie seemed to have a similar reaction. “You… how can you-“

“Aw, what’s the matter?” Ember couldn’t help but mock. “Don’t like that not everyone always thinks the worst of people?”

“Shut it, McLain!” She shot back, anger returning. “You don’t get to talk right now, you’ve conned Danny into thinking you’re reforming even when you’ve tried to kill him!”

“Hi, Pot,” Ember replied with excessive cheer, waving at the Huntress. “I’m Kettle!”

“… what?”

“Oh, sorry, was the message ‘you’ve tried to kill him more often than me’ too subtle for you?” Ember snarked. “Or do you just wanna ignore that, ‘cause it kinda blows a hole in your whole argument?”

“Enough!” Danny shouted. “Both of you!”

The sudden outburst was enough to de-escalate the eminent brawl as both girls looked at him. Agonizing seconds passed before Danny turned to the Red Huntress and folded his arms, his back turned to Ember.

“Alright, Val. I already know you don’t trust Ember, and you won’t talk me into that mindset,” he said flatly, his tone for once commanding and serious. “What do you think you’ve figured out just now?”

“It’s what you said about getting her a stage,” she replied, almost indecently quickly. “She’s tricked you, Danny. She’s using you to get power she can’t get any other way.”

“If you really think I couldn’t get a gig with _my_ powers-“ Ember started, before the Huntress cut her off.

“Oh, stow it, ghost!” She snarled. “Don’t think because you’ve taken advantage of Danny that _I’m_ not on to you. What’s the end game here? Long con until you can figure out how to get him mind controlled? Paulina might be an idiot, but she was on to something there!”

“Paranoid much?” Ember deadpanned. “I can’t do that without-“

“Without a power boost, yeah. Like from a concert, maybe?”

“Come on, Val,” Danny said, exasperated. “It’s not like that.”

“How do you _know?_ ” She demanded in return. “How many of the other ghosts have changed their pattern before?”

“Ember has! She doesn’t want to _do_ any of that anymore!”

“Yeah? Because it’s wrong to brainwash people and take their will from them, or because it didn’t work out for her?”

Danny didn’t answer, seeming to freeze on the spot. Ember could understand the dilemma. That wasn’t _wrong_ , per se.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Val sighed, her eyes turned to Danny’s with an odd mix of resignation and pleading. “Danny, you’re a kind person, and you’ve got a big heart. It’s what I like most about you. But sometimes people exploit that, and you need protecting from yourself. Right now, that’s my job.”

“… And how are you going to do that job?” Danny asked, the sad quaver in his voice valiantly suppressed as his stance shifted subtly, to more of a fighting posture. “Because I _won’t_ let you hurt Ember, Valerie.”

Ember had enough spite in her to relish the look of shock and hurt on the Red Huntress’ face at Danny’s declaration of protection. Well, she _would_ have, were her own brain not whirring into overdrive at some of the words exchanged.

“… Fine,” Valerie muttered, before turning to point an accusing finger at the ghost girl. “ _You._ I’ll be watching you. When this all crashes down, and it _will,_ I’m coming for you.”

Ember didn’t reply as Valerie summoned the board back into existence under her feet, and took to the sky, leaving the ghostly pair behind. Danny’s legs collapsed from under him, and he sat on the churned-up earth, looking at the ground. Ember, meanwhile…

( _You knew it would happen eventually, didn’t you?_ The little voice said, louder than it had been for a while. _Oh, she might have been wrong about you having a plan, but she wasn’t wrong about the sheer selfishness you have, isn’t she? You knew someone would notice what a horrible person you are eventually. You haven’t changed, not really. All you’ve done is trick Danny, like the Huntress said. If you thought it would make you feel better, you’d do all the brainwashing and conquest all over again, wouldn’t you? What makes you think you deserve someone as selfless as ‘your’ baby pop?)_

Round and round and round the voice went, giving rise to every second thought and self-doubt she’d ever had about everything, but most especially with involving herself with Danny in any way. She tried to banish it as she had before, but it wouldn’t go, not this time. Was… was it _right_? Ember didn’t know, and that… scared her.

Ember’s gaze went unconsciously to Danny, sat there in the earth and looking despondent. This wasn’t the time for self-pity, she decided as she mustered every bit of willpower to shove the voice aside and ignore its accusations. Danny could do with a boost, and she had just the thing.

“You OK, baby pop?” Ember asked quietly, settling herself down next to the halfa. He shrugged, half-heartedly.

“Not really. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, though. I mean, it was kind of unrealistic to hope that everyone would be just OK with… well, any of this,” he sighed gesturing broadly between the two of them. “It _shouldn’t_ be a shock that Val’s the one opposed, but…”

“It hurts all the same,” Ember finished for him. He nodded morosely, so she dropped a hand on his shoulder. “Hey. You wanna get out of here? I’ve still got something for you back at my place, remember?”

Danny looked at her for a moment, then shrugged again and nodded, his hand reaching up to grab hers. He didn’t need to do that to be teleported, and she knew he knew that. They gave each other a small smile anyway as purple smoke descended on the two and they vanished.

* * *

“… It’s a door,” Danny said, flatly.

Ember had teleported them both deep within her own realm, far enough back that the usual backstage accoutrements of her realm were denser and thicker than usual, the wires trailing the floor almost safe to walk on. Keyword being almost, as Danny and his face learned to his annoyance on the way here. And in this remotest corner of her realm was her own secret project and gift to a certain Phantom, a purple door.

“Yup,” Ember replied smugly.

“… Is there something special about the door?” Danny asked, confused.

“Oh, you got no idea,” Ember crowed, her best Cheshire cat grin on her face. “Touch it.”

The ghost boy looked at her oddly but moved forward and placed his hand on the ectoplasmic wood.

Immediately when his hand made contact, the material under his hand turned a solid black, and began flowing out to encompass the rest of the door. White accents writhed to the surface, and a solid blob of the same colour manifested itself at head height, eventually morphing into a recognisable symbol. Namely, the logo on Danny’s chest.

Ember watched with a grin as Danny squinted at the door and seemingly unconsciously brought his hand to his chest. Or more specifically, the part of his chest where his core lurked. Ember remembered the unusual feeling, your essence as a ghost suddenly becoming connected to a place.

“Ember, what was that? I felt… something…”

“Hope so, otherwise I messed this up somewhere,” she responded cheerfully, gesturing at the now black and white door. “After you, baby pop!”

Danny hesitantly put his hand on the doorknob and tugged. Behind the door was a great void, an entirely black space that just hung beyond the door. His face twitched, and he floated in, looking around, his hand still on the spot where his core was. It was almost imperceptible, but Ember could see the boundaries of the void flex and stretch slightly at his presence. He turned back to the doorframe, confused.

“Aren’t you coming in, Em?”

“ _Can_ I?” She asked from the doorway, arching an eyebrow.

“Well, yeah, of course. It’s your realm.”

“No, it isn’t.”

To demonstrate, she pushed a hand against the space between the door frame, and felt resistance, something pressing back against her hand and Danny twitched again as he felt the attempt. It took him a second to get the implications. She watched as his eyes widened and he took in the void again with new energy. “Wait,” he breathed. “You mean this is…”

“Yep,” Ember grinned, near fit to bursting with enthusiasm despite her post battle fatigue. “It’ll take a while before it can exist outside mine, maybe another year or so of growing, but… welcome to your realm, Phantom.”

He stared in wonder at her, his every limb limp as he floated in the void. “How… how do I let you in? Do I just say it, or…?”

“Just think I’m allowed in, and I will be.”

Almost immediately, the resistance from the door vanished and Ember flew to where Danny still floated dumfounded. “You like it, baby pop?” She asked the silently staring boy. “See, you said way back when we started this that having a place you could just go to be by yourself sounded nice. So, I thought, y’know, why not give you something like that? No other ghost can force their way in without you knowing about it, and even then, they’d need to be stronger than you to do it. You won’t even need to come into my realm to get in, just touch my door and- “

She was cut off from her uncharacteristically enthusiastic explanation by Danny’s arms wrapping themselves gently around her, pulling her into a hug. After a few moments of surprise, she returned it, her arms slipping around his waist and her head resting softly on his shoulder.

“Thank you, Ember” he whispered into her ear. “Thank you so much.”

Ember smiled and squeezed a little tighter. “You’ve got me a great day and a building to destroy, I got you your own pocket dimension. Top _that_ , Fenton!”

He chuckled and pulled away to grin at her. Ember, on the other hand, refused to let go, tucking herself into his side as she kept one arm around him. Danny’s arm snaked around her shoulder in return, pulling her in a little closer.

“I don’t think I can,” he commented, looking around at the vast black space. “It _might_ take me a few tries to pay you back for this one.”

“Then get planning, baby pop,” she teased. “’Till then, you gonna leave your realm looking this?”

“How do I start decorating?”

“Just think it, and it’ll happen. Don’t try to do too much at once, though. Takes a lot outta you.”

Danny furrowed his brow for a moment, before he smiled, wide and bright. He held out his free hand and splayed his fingers. Thousands of motes of white light erupted from his gloves and zipped out in all directions at lightning speed, hanging in the void at different points. Danny let Ember go, and took off, speeding around his new realm and bouncing in all directions. His hand swiped and left a multicoloured nebula behind, he left asteroids and planets in his wake, gas giants conjured with a snap of his fingers, spinning black holes set flying with a flick of his wrist. Solar systems were expertly arranged and set in motion through the space.

Ember’s face was gradually illuminated a dozen different colours as the black space swiftly filled with stellar phenomenon. She watched him work with glee, before he snapped his fingers and the stars all subtly changed colours. He flew back to Ember, grin plastered on his face, radiating joy in spite of the mild sweat he’d worked up.

“How’d I do?” He asked cheekily to the openly delighted Ember as her head swung left and right to drink it all in. She stopped her examination and plastered an obviously fake unimpressed expression on her face.

“Meh. Alright, I _guess_ ,” she drawled, before both she and Danny collapsed into laughter. Ember resumed her position pressed into his side, Danny shifting to let her in and bring an arm around her. They stayed there together for a while, drinking in the shifting stellar map that had sprung into existence around them, the asteroids drifting lazily through space.

Danny broke the silence eventually. “We never did finish our talk in the graveyard, did we?”

“… Guess we didn’t.”

“… Remember what you asked? If it were just us, nothing else?” He asked. Ember nodded against his chest. “This. I’d want _this_ , Em. I think I like… _us_.”

Ember’s grip on him tightened briefly. “Me too, baby pop.”

She saw Danny frown, and she _knew_ what was going through his mind. All the _other_ stuff, none of which seemed important now they’d both admitted they wanted this. The dangers, the objections, whatever else, and how to deal with it all. Ember headed him off before he could voice it.

“Let’s do it.”

“… What?!”

Ember’s face flushed. “Not like _that,_ you perv! Remember the concert idea? Let’s do that.”

Danny’s face reflected nothing but confusion. “Uh… OK? I’m not sure how that- “

“I mean,” she interrupted. “It’s gonna take a while to set up, obviously, and we’ll have to meet up a _lot_ to get everything organised. They’ll have to be private meetings too, just so’s we can make sure it’s all just how we want it.”

She grinned as her baby pops face slowly brightened as he got what she was driving at, so she went on. “And _maybe_ it’s just my brief experience talking, but these kind of meetings can happen, well, anywhere. And obviously, I’d go along with it, ‘cause this is clearly some evil plan to trick you and get you under my boots.”

“… Well, of course. I’m far too naïve to have heard or even slightly comprehend that last bit, so I’m completely in the dark about this being a cruel plan on your part. I just think you’ve turned over a new leaf and I’m trying to help,” Danny finished, smiling. “I’m sure if we were discovered you’d just brag about it to whoever caught you, too.”

Ember beamed at him and snuggled in closer. He _did_ get it.

It was still a stalling tactic. They both knew it, Ember thought, and it wouldn’t be _quite_ be what they both wanted. But it was a start, until they could think of something better. It was a cover, until they decided they didn’t need or want it anymore. And it was something they could both stick to easily, without anyone being any the wiser.

Until then, though, they could just stay here, Ember listening as Danny talked about all the space stuff he’d made, and if the next morning they found they’d fallen asleep on a couch made of starlight, neither really cared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t actually intend to end the Halloween arc on Halloween, so this is a neat coincidence. Given the next one is set around Thanksgiving, I hope it doesn’t take me quite that long to get it out.
> 
> Ember’s ‘last words’ are among the last recorded words of Edward Teach, also called Blackbeard. Seemed appropriate, all in all.
> 
> I don’t know how many of my readers have ever had to deal with poor self-esteem, anxiety or depression, but for me, they usually manifest in a little whispering voice that won’t shut up putting you down or coming up with doom and gloom scenarios, no matter how quickly it’s contradicted.
> 
> Oh, incidentally, I also left another hint as to what’s going on in the background in chapter 6. Hint, another thing got stolen.
> 
> Do drop a comment or a kudos, I like knowing what everyone thinks of it all!
> 
> UPDATE: Completely forgot, someone made a TVTropes page for the fic! [Check it out and give it a fiddle!](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/DannyPhantomFireAndIce)


	19. Thanksgiving

Jack Fenton saw the light underneath the door to the lab, glanced at the kitchen clock that read 2am, and sighed. He had been afraid of this.

Between all of October being prime working time for the Fenton’s and busier this year than previous, working with Damon Gray on more commercial versions of their inventions, and Danny’s misadventure with the Ghost Investigation Wing (as well as the subsequent need to sue them for patent theft, which was going to be long, slow, tedious and likely ineffective in getting the Ectoskeleton plans out of their hands entirely, but it had to be done), Jack had been too busy to notice the warning signs. He was sure Danny hadn’t noticed either, but that was to be expected – he was the first line of defence for Amity! He was nearly doing as good a job as his old man! Between that, his schoolwork, his friends, and his new hobby of managing a band, Jack couldn’t blame him.

At least Jack _thinks_ he’s managing a band. The tone of the phone call at breakfast the other day was a little weird the more he thought of it. How had it gone again?

* * *

_Danny’s phone buzzed as Jack busied himself with the coffee machine and the possibility of a sausage ghost appearing from his breakfast. It would hardly be the first time. Danny picked up the phone with a grin._

_“Heya, Em!... Yeah, I’ve got a plan for today. I think we’re gonna need to go over who’s going to be backing you, I’ve got a few local drummers-… Yeah, I know you can summon the pink dudes again, but consider this! We can’t have a picnic in the park and go over the options if you do that… Oh, you want to give the local talent a chance? Thought you might… Alright, so, big park in the middle of Amity, after school! I’ve got everything packed up… Of course I put some strawberry cheesecake in there, what kind of monster do you take me for?... Oh, ha, ha. See you later, rockstar!_

_Danny hung up and went back to his cereal, a smile playing about his face._

_“Planning a show, Danny?” Jack asked cheerfully as his sausages emerged from the ecto-cooker without attempting to kill him. A good start to the day, maybe they’d finally cracked how to cook with ecto-energy._

_“Something like that,” he grinned back. “I’ll let you know if we can get it off the grou- Dad, sausages!”_

_Jack turned back to his plate and swore as the now glowing and very angry sausage links tried to strangle him._

* * *

Jack would ask next time he saw him. Anyway, Danny couldn’t be expected to keep track of things like Maddie taking an inordinate amount of the evening shifts on the comm the last month so she could keep working well into the night.

No, it had of course been Jasmine who’d noticed that her mother was starting to work obsessively again. That had been another of the things they had made an effort to change in the wake of learning Danny’s secret. They’d both agreed that whatever advances they could make technologically came second to family from then on, and they’d both kept each other to that. It had been easier than they’d thought – Danno and Jazzypants were more involved in the family calling anyway, so often family time and ghost hunting or ectology were melded together. But still, Maddie had had to pull Jack from hyper focusing on some invention or other before now, and seemingly it was his turn.

Thinking on it, he probably hadn’t noticed because the Astral Specter Detector was a project that had seemed fairly innocuous at first – he could see the _long-term_ use of being able to detect ghosts in space, for certain. But it didn’t seem too likely to drag Maddie into an invention spiral like, say, the liquid metal ecto-armour they’d been collaborating on or his own project, an improved combat jumpsuit he’d started a month ago. If anything, it seemed like a sign of slowing down or focusing on other things – it wasn’t especially _difficult,_ if too math heavy for Jack’s taste, nor was it in the vein of practical field gadgets or research equipment that tended to dominate both of their imaginations.

It seemed more a device for the future, a legacy almost. They both had many more years of ghost hunting in them, Jack was sure, but Maddie had always been more forward thinking than him. Leaving behind some devices to help future generations of Fenton’s was very characteristic of her. He had been proud, and once again questioned what the heck she was doing with him. Great as he was, she was _leagues_ above Jack.

Then Jazz had shared her worry that Maddie was starting to slip into obsession again, and he’d sat down with a pencil and paper, trying to piece it together. He wanted to try to understand _why_ this idea in particular had arrested her focus before asking her about it. He hadn’t come up with anything in particular until he’d looked at what had preceding her conceiving of it.

That would be the experiments that confirmed that in ghost form, Danny didn’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.

Suddenly Jack became _painfully_ aware of why detecting ghosts in space might become a fixation for Maddie.

He mentally prepared himself and pushed the door open.

The lab was the one part of the house that had changed substantially in the past year. When they’d gotten, as Tucker had insisted on calling it, _stupid_ rich (again), the Fenton clan had come together and decided they’d be less… Jack cast about for a phrase that wasn’t ‘unbelievably and instantly narcissistic’ but couldn’t come up with one. They’d be _more frugal,_ there, that was better. Improve the house and the appliances within, yes, but the house itself would remain their home for the time being.

The lab, however, needed a _big_ expansion.

The Fenton household now had considerably more floor space underground than above, for a start. The portal sat where it always had, up against the wall, but the newly expanded basement contained a much larger training area, with enough options to provide for both human ghost hunters and Danny and others like him, equipment storage and a garage for the RV, the Specter Speeder and the Ectoskeleton, with a lift providing access to street level. The lab itself had nearly doubled in size, new equipment needed to run proper tests on Danny and his unique condition, as well as to run experiments that were less… potentially lethal to the ectoplasmic entities they encountered.

Danny and Jazz had insisted, and Jack and Maddie had shrugged and acquiesced. If it made Danno more comfortable, then they wouldn’t run those kinds of tests. It _was_ making progress on determining what exactly a ghost was, scientifically speaking, slow going, though. They weren’t human, obviously, but it had become clear that they also weren’t mindless instinct and obsession. Throwing out years of well-founded speculation had been galling. Ah, that was science though – disproving your own theories with careful experimentation!

Jack had always forgotten the ‘careful’ part.

In any case. The lights of the lab were on in the furthest corner, where the majority of the Fenton supercomputer sat – a vast bank of monitors, processers, and memory storage. And sat there, mug of coffee next to her, was his wife, tapping away industriously at the keys.

Jack took a deep breath, then plastered an oblivious smile on his face.

“Mads!” He called out, walking over to the padded chair. “Come to bed, it’s two in the morning! You need some sleep for detective work with Danno tomorrow! Er… Today!”

He figured playing dumb and talking after they’d slept might be better for them both.

“Oh, I’ll be up soon, dear,” Maddie replied absently. “I just need to finish tweaking the sensors. They seem to have difficulties with fractions. I shouldn’t be more than an hour.”

“Can’t it wait until morning?”

“No, no, I can get it done now,” she dismissed, waving her hand vaguely. “You go up without me, I’ll join you when I’m done.”

Well, there goes that idea then. Jack pulled another chair closer and sat down heavily, looking at his wife, the cheery grin gone from his face. How do you even start a conversation like this?

In true Fenton style, Jack decided to just go right at it.

“Jazz is worried about you, you know,” he said, uncharacteristically quietly. Maddie’s head turned to face him, her face a mask of puzzlement. Mask being the operative word, Jack thought, if he knew her. “She told me she thinks you’re getting obsessive over this.”

“What? That’s ridiculous!” Maddie laughed. “It’s just an expansion of something we’ve already built, there’s nothing _new_ to this!”

“No, there isn’t. But here you are, late into the night and planning on going for longer” Jack pointed out, not joining in the laughter. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Mads… what is this _for_?”

He knew, or at least thought he knew the answer. But better to give her the chance to admit it.

Her whole body went still. “Finding ghosts in space, of course!” She said eventually. “You know Danny’s always wanted to go hunting up there.”

“He has, and I’m sure our boy will take ghost hunting to the stars!” Jack enthused, briefly, proud as ever of his son and only slightly less oblivious to his actual ambition than normal. “But we’re not going to get ghosts in space until there’s a lot of life there, unless our theories are wrong. So why work all hours on detecting something that shouldn’t be there?”

It was possible that _was_ wrong, of course, but they were reasonably sure ghosts can’t cross over where life doesn’t exist. The connection between the Ghost Zone and the regular world was profoundly strong. Well, what little they could perceive. So unless Maddie had suddenly revolutionised several fields of science even beyond ectology (which Jack believed was at least an outside chance), then that wasn’t it either.

“Well…” Maddie faltered. “It’s just… something to pass the time, you know. We’re not getting any younger, Jack, and we should start thinking about what we’ll leave behind for the kids, useful things, things that might- “

“Maddie,” Jack intoned, interrupting, and resting a hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him and his unusually sombre expression. “He’s not coming back.”

It broke Jack’s heart to watch her face crumple in on itself, any pretence vanishing as she openly displayed the fear that must have pushed her this far. He restrained the impulse to hug her then and there with some effort; it wouldn’t be helpful right now.

“You… you don’t _know_ that, Jack,” she whispered. “You know as well as I do, he’s still up there. Vlad can survive space if Danny can. And Danny _can_ , we’ve checked. He could drop down anytime and… and…”

“Be met with everything we can throw at him and then some,” Jack replied, his voice devoid of his usual bravado.

“But when he comes back- “Maddie began to protest.

“Which won’t be for a while, if at all. Vla… _Masters,_ ” Jack corrected with an expression of distaste, “was left on an asteroid hurtling through space. Me and Danno did the math once for fun. Even if he gets off the thing somehow, even if he can quadruple Danno’s top speed, with how fast that hunk of rock was going, it’d take him years.”

“And if he found a way off earlier?” She asked, fearful and animated. “He’s intelligent, always has been, he could find something. And even if he doesn’t, whenever he does make it back, and he _will,_ he’ll make a beeline straight for us. If we don’t know he’s coming, I… I don’t… I can’t…”

“… Can’t what, honey?” Jack asked quietly.

“I can’t _let him kill you!_ ” She cried. “He wants you and Danny, above everyone else, _dead_. And who knows what he’d do to Jazz! I won’t have our family torn apart just because Vlad couldn’t take a hint!”

“It wasn’t your fault he became obsessed with you, Maddie, that’s all on him,” Jack stated, firmly. Maddie didn’t answer, just looked at him imploringly. He sighed.

“… I won’t say I haven’t thought about him coming back, Mads,” Jack said, gravely. He hated having to talk about his erstwhile best friend. Any time he did, he couldn’t help but mull over what he thought were the good times and wonder to himself if Vlad had ever shared them, or if he’d always been a buffoon to him. It wasn’t a pleasant time for the usually jolly man. His wife needed it, though. “Master’s put our kids through the wringer, and I do _not_ want him to have the chance to do it again. But he _can’t_ , not anymore.”

“How can you _-_ “

“Because we _know_ now. Danny, Jazz, they don’t have to do it by themselves anymore, they’ve got us. And so do _you,_ Maddie.”

Jack lifted Maddie out of the chair and held her close. He felt her arms… well, _attempt_ to hug him back, he would acknowledge that was perhaps a little difficult for anyone with arms the regular human length.

“If he ever comes back, he won’t be facing down just Danny and his friends, like he did at first. He’ll have to contend with all of us, all at once. The whole Fenton family, plus all Danny’s friends and all his ghost allies. I’d like to see Plasmius try to fight a dragon. Even if he took anyone by surprise, the rest of us would be there in minutes. And that’s the worst-case scenario – he still might stay trapped in space. You don’t need to work until you collapse on this, honey. You’ll have us all worried for you.”

“… You’re right, I know you are, but I’m still… scared.”

“It’s OK to be scared, Mads,” Jack soothed. “Just don’t let _him_ get to you now. He’d like nothing more.”

“I’m still going to try to finish it,” Maddie mumbled. Jack grinned, more than willing to accept that compromise.

“Of course! Just because I know we can whoop his ghostly butt doesn’t mean I don’t want to know when and where he shows his miserable face. Just… take it easy?”

“… OK, Jack.” Maddie looked up at her husband with a small smile. “Shall we get to bed?”

Jack nodded his head. “Probably better. You’re helping Danny track down the McLain’s in the morning, after all, you need your sleep.”

She acquiesced, hitting the power on the computer bank before leaving hand in hand with Jack. “You know, you’re better at interpersonal skills than you appear, dear.”

“Well, you can’t have just married me for my rugged good looks,” Jack replied, beaming at the chuckle he got in return.

* * *

Maddie climbed into the RV with her arms full of gas station snacks to find Danny in much the same place as she’d left him, drumming out a beat on the dashboard and humming.

“I take it last night was fun, sweetie?” She inquired as she settled back into the driver’s seat and passed him a soda. He grinned and nodded in return.

“Very! I should have checked out some local music before now. Live shows are… interesting,” he smiled, fondly. Maddie had a sneaking suspicion she knew why this one had been memorable.

* * *

_“’Kay, Em, I got us drinks before… the heck is that?” Danny asked in confusion as he set their soda’s down at the table they’d managed to scavenge ahead of the crowd. It was a local band, creatively named The Spooks, but they were apparently pretty well liked in Amity. Danny was starting to regret not paying more attention to that kind of thing now he had a charade to keep up. But, he thought, there was paying attention and then there was…_

_“Notebook,” Ember replied shortly, scribbling something down as she absently lifted her drink and chugged from it. She nodded her head from side to side before adding another note._

_Danny rolled his eyes. “And onwards to my implied question, why do you have that?”_

_“What, just because this whole thing’s at least half a front doesn’t mean I ain’t taking the gig seriously,” she admonished. “If I want this to go right, I oughta at least figure out what works and what doesn’t. This is a good place to start.”_

_“… You know what? Fair,” Danny agreed, pulling the chair around to sit beside her. “Got anything worth mentioning so far?”_

_The venue – a fairly large music venue in central Amity – got progressively busier and louder as more and more people filed in, but the only change in how the two spectral attendees conducted themselves was to get closer than perhaps they needed to to be heard and deal with occasional fans recognising Danny and freaking out. They both got so engrossed in their conversation that the sudden roar of the crowd and the thudding drums made them jump in their seats, before Danny grinned and drained his soda. He got up and held out a hand to the ghost girl._

_“Come on, Em!”_

_“Dipstick, we barely got into some of the stuff I wanna do for my gig!”_

_“Yeah, I know, but right now we’ve got two choices – we can either keep analysing the experience, or we can get into the mosh pit and show them why letting us in was a bad idea.”_

_“… You make a good point!” Ember cackled, taking his hand, and hauling herself upwards, before they both started shoving their way to the front of the stage._

_They did, in fact, make anyone who got close to them in the pit regret challenging them. And they did it all without letting go of their hands._

* * *

Maddie frowned, a little. She still wasn’t sure if she approved of her son being as close to some ghosts as he was in general, and Ember McLain in particular. Oh, not _because_ they were ghosts, she’d learned better since Danny’s secret had come out – it wasn’t possible for her to meet some of his spectral allies and _not_ be forced to alter her theories of how ghosts operated.

Frostbite the yeti ghost had been jovial and polite when they’d met, and almost as proud of Danny as Jack, which Maddie had previously dismissed as impossible. Him plus the Far Frozen had single-handedly demolished nearly every theory she and Jack had conceived of over the years. Wulf was similarly a good bo- _pleasant person_ , she corrected.

Between them and Princess Dorathea, from whose kingdom they had to physical prise Jazz from staying in forever to live out her fantasy of being a medieval playwright, both her and Jack had thrown their hands up – they’d clearly been almost completely wrong about everything to do with ghosts and their behaviour. Not a trace of mindless malevolence or laser-focused obsession in any of them. They seemed… _odd,_ something was definitely off compared to human behaviour, but they were different, not lesser.

It had been hard to change habits, and they were still unlearning some behaviours – Jack still tended to scream ghost and pull the nearest weapon whenever a spectral entity made a sudden appearance – but it was worth it. It was what fit that data they had, true, and as scientists they should always tailor their approach to the data. But there was a more personal reason. Their previous attitude to ghosts had nearly gotten them to kill their own son. Any change was worth never having to face that prospect ever again, and to be handed a scientifically justifiable reason to do so was a blessing.

That said, they did still shoot at ghosts whenever the opportunity arose, but now they waited until they saw malicious behaviour.

They ended up shooting a _lot_ of ghosts.

No, her potential disapproval was actually the refreshingly mundane parental concern for the type of person her children spent time around.

For instance, much as she appreciated the mentoring role Frostbite had taken, and both Wulf and Dorathea were commendable allies, Danny’s more recent friends amongst the undead were cause for concern. Kitty was perky and friendly, if shockingly manipulative if tricking the population of the Ghost Zone into a party for her own ends was any indication. But she was a package deal with that greasy, ill-tempered _lout,_ Johnny 13, who tried to get her Jazz permanently possessed (a plan Kitty herself had seemed to have no objections to, she couldn’t help but note) and who seemed to regard fistfights with Danny as an excellent past time. That Danny did too was… worrying. Jazz and Kitty spending significant time together was causing alarm bells to ring also.

And then there was Ember McLain.

The ghostly rockstar who had, in rough order, attempted to take over the world, take over the city via kidnapping of adults and then the city again via banishment of all men, all whilst making serious attempts to kill her son and several others in her way, and laughed while she did it.

Danny had never been able to adequately explain to them just why he thought Ember had decided to quit her efforts at domination. He hadn’t _lied,_ he’d simply said the reason wasn’t his to tell. On the one hand, she was quite pleased in his ability to keep the confidence of others. On the other, Danny, sweetie, she’s tried to kill you, we _need_ some assurances here.

That was at least part of what the trip today was for, for Maddie anyway.

“So,” she asked as she started the engine and drove out of the gas station, picking up his explanation from where he’d left it. “You were looking into Ember’s background, you said?”

He nodded. “Yeah. With Thanksgiving coming up, I figured why not do some digging, see if she has any family left? Might be a nice surprise for her.”

“That can’t have been easy.”

“Easier than I thought it would be,” Danny shrugged. “She’d told me she used to live at least around Amity if not in it, so just searching ‘teenage girl dead in fire 1970’s’ got me most of the way there.”

Maddie winced. Ah, yes. One of the notions that had proved harder to shift, at least for her – ghosts didn’t seem to universally be beings independent of the mortal plane. Some _did_ seem to have come into existence in the Ghost Zone, Frostbite for instance was entirely native to that dimension, but it seemed that others were exactly as tradition viewed them – the spirits of dead humans.

She often shunted it to the side simply out of sheer discomfort in dealing with the implications.

“Well that’s… morbid,” was all she said by way of reply. Danny turned in the passenger seat to grin reassuringly at her.

“Easy to forget sometimes, isn’t it?” Danny said knowingly, apparently grasping immediately the source of her unease. “She seems so… alive.”

Now _that_ was said with a tone of fondness that was doing nothing to assuage her concerns. When Danny had begun to talk about Ember in _that_ tone, Maddie couldn’t place, but she recognised it all too well. Contrary to the density Danny had inherited from his father, she thought he knew too, from the look on his face. That added an entirely new dimension to her worries. And Maddie had such hopes for him and Valerie rekindling, but alas, she was apparently not talking to him, _because_ of Ember.

Well. Further reason to investigate Ms. McLain and make sure she wasn’t misleading her son in aid of some evil ghostly plot, as Valerie had insisted to her was the case. She trusted Danny’s judgement, but confirming for herself couldn’t hurt. And it certainly wasn’t because of her maternal instincts screaming at her to save her son from the punk ghost girl who wasn’t good enough for him.

She could shunt that aside for objectivity. Obviously.

“Anyway,” Danny continued, oblivious. “I found the news report about her house burning down, including the names of surviving family members. Actually, I wanted to ask – Amity’s always been at least a little spooky, right?”

“The barrier between the two dimensions is marginally weaker here,” Maddie clarified. “More minor incidents and hauntings than average, going back years, although the veracity of many of them is dubious. It’s why your father and I decided to settle here. Why do you ask?”

“Because nobody was ever able to figure out the actual _cause_ of the fire. The Fire Department at the time was baffled because there wasn’t anything that should have set something off that they could find. I was wondering if- “

“It may have been ghostly in origin?” She finished, flipping the turn signal as she thought about the situation. “It’s… possible, I suppose. We’d need to examine the original site to be sure, and over forty years out, I’m not sure we’d find anything.”

“Hm. Never mind then, I was just curious,” Danny dismissed. “Anyway, that poking around is how I found out Ember’s mom was still alive. If she wants to meet her daughter again? Now there’s something I’d like to help with. Thanksgivings a good time for it, too.”

Well, that was fairly anticlimactic, Maddie mused. She had hoped for a more Sherlock Holmes style deductive process. But that was what actual detective work is, of course. More digging through reams of information to get the truth than pulling a solution from disparate observations. Ah well. She was so thankful true ghost hunting was exactly as exciting as it should be.

“Do you think it’ll go well, Danny?”

He grimaced in response. That didn’t bode well. “I’m not sure. Ember’s brought her up to me precisely once, and it was _not_ complimentary. It’s… one of the reasons I wanted to bring _you_ , mom. I figured you might be able to talk to her in a way I couldn’t. Mother to mother, you know?”

“One of the reasons?” She queried; eyebrow raised. He smiled again, this time a little more sheepishly.

“Yeah, well, with everything that’s been going on the last month, we’ve not really spent much time together. Thought we were due some mother-son time.”

Maddie had to try her hardest not to give her son a hug then and there. It would have made driving awkward. She still worried now and then that Danny was closer to Jack than her, and it made her a little sad, seeing how much easier connection came to them in comparison. It was silly, she knew, and moments like this proved it, but the fears were there regardless.

“You know you can just ask, right sweetie?” She replied, opting to tease him.

“Eh, where’s the fun in that? It usually goes better if we have something to do,” he replied with a laugh in his voice. “Although maybe less ‘being chased by ghost animals’ and more ‘building robots’ on this one, please.”

They both shared a brief chuckle before lapsing into a comfortable silence, watching scenery go by. The drive to where Ember’s mother lived now was about an hour out from Fenton Works, barely within the city limits all told. Danny could have flown them both there with ease, but Maddie suspected he enjoyed having moments of normality now and then, which she was happy to provide as best she was able.

Then again, they were Fenton’s, normal was _very_ relative.

“Oh, I forgot to ask – have you had any luck with compressing the energy of your ectobeams and not… um…”

“Exploding?” Danny interrupted somewhat sardonically. “Yeah, actually. About the only thing I can’t do is come up with a name for it.”

He raised a fist, that began slowly glowing green, a faint whine picking up from the closed hand.

“I figured out the key to keeping it all contained was just not go whole hog immediately,” he explained. “Start slow, go from a low percentage, build it up and it doesn’t get out of control and either explode or break my arm.” Danny scrunched his forehead in puzzlement. “Although the instant I said all of that, Tucker insisted I name it my ‘Amity Park Smash’. I dunno why.”

“… Is that a reference to something?”

“Probably. Least this means I can finally give your tests a try without blowing the lab up, though! Hey, that reminds me, how was that thing you were working on? Ghosts in space, right?”

“Oh. Yes. Your father convinced me to put that one on hold for a while. I’ll put some work in down the line. We’ve got some other things to be doing in the meantime, can’t focus too much on theoretical scenarios,” Maddie said, lightly.

Danny raised an eyebrow at that, a fleeting expression of skepticism passing over his face before he shrugged, and the subject changed to more mundane matters of home and school.

“Mom, I didn’t _mean_ to blow up the oven, I swear!” Danny groaned.

Mundane again being filtered through the lens of a family for whom the supernatural was an everyday occurrence.

“Well, I would hope not! Just because we can afford it doesn’t mean you should destroy the appliances,” Maddie laughed, to Danny’s grumbling.

Neither she nor Jack could complain too much, they’d decided – they’d had to fight reanimated meals often enough that it felt vaguely hypocritical to tell Danny off for somehow breaking the oven. It wasn’t like he didn’t _know_ not to do that, and this was the first time anyway. They’d just taken the repair money for it from his savings as punishment, and that was frankly a drop in the ocean.

The real conundrum was why Danny decided to try baking in the first place.

* * *

_“Maybe it can be salvaged?”_

_“Dipstick, it’s exploded. It’s exploded and taken the oven with it. You can’t salvage an exploded cake. At least not in a way that keeps your dignity.”_

_“Well, at least you finally admit I have dignity.”_

_“It just slipped out; I swear. I thought you said you could cook?”_

_“I can! If you asked me to make a pizza, or a risotto, or scratch build us some burgers, I could do that! I just can’t bake, apparently. Did you know cakes could explode? I didn’t know cakes could explode.”_

_“I mean, yeah, I knew it was possible. I didn’t know it was possible to make one blow up hard enough to break everything around it though. So, well done, I guess? You’ve made a tasty landmine.”_

_“Huzzah. Well, there goes plan make something nice for Ember.”_

_“… Y’know what, just for that, I’ll help you clean this up.”_

_“Heh. Thanks, rockstar.”_

_“No problem, baby pop. What did this have to do with gig stuff, anyway?”_

_“… I knew I forgot something.”_

* * *

After around an hour of chatting and occasional familial embarrassment, the RV rolled slowly to a stop outside their destination. Maddie looked at the house with some concern. It was, to be honest, not a very well cared for abode, although it at least matched the neighbourhood it was in. Half the houses here seemed abandoned and boarded up. Well, she wouldn’t judge – Maddie didn’t know how _she_ would react in the event her home burned down, and her child died unexpectedly, but no longer bothering with keeping up appearances would be the _best-case_ scenario, most likely.

“Well,” she asked, turning to Danny who looked apprehensive now they were actually here. “How do you want to do this?”

“Um…” Danny scratched the back of his head before sighing. “I did not think this through all that much. I guess it’s better if you go first? I’m probably gonna be kind of intimidating to talk to. The perk of saving the world no one tells you about,” he snarked. “Especially if I go in there with ‘hey, your dead daughter’s a ghost that’s attacked the town before and is also my… friend, wanna meet her again?’.”

“You certainly have a point, sweetie,” Maddie agreed, mentally noting the pregnant pause before the word ‘friend’. “Alright then. I’ll text you when I think I’ve gotten things laid out properly, OK?”

“Sure thing, mom,” he replied, giving her a thumbs up before she popped the driver door open and made her way over to the drive.

Maddie found that she was, in fact, quite nervous – how do you _start_ a conversation like this? They’d never tried to track down living members of a ghost’s family before, initially because they thought it would be a cruelty to have them interact with pale and twisted imitations of their loved ones, and once they knew better it just seemed pointless. Much as she believed family was important and a source of strength, would that opinion be shared by ghosts who had decided to attack the living for whatever reason they had? If they’d given any indication they still _had_ family, perhaps she and Jack may have tried it.

She was digressing. She shot her eyes over the house, trying to take in details that might help in making contact successfully. The place was fairly dilapidated, patches here and there in the wood panelling and peeling paint abundant. Perhaps a more casual approach, then? She doubted appearing as any kind of authority would help much in this instance. Like Danny suggested, talk as a mother instead of a ghost hunter.

Maddie peered into the front of the house but found she couldn’t see through the windows particularly well. The wall was just about visible though and… that was a _lot_ of religious symbology and paraphernalia. Oh dear. In general, Maddie had found extremely religious people quite resistant to ghosts and ectology. This might be harder than she had thought.

… And she picks now to remember Danny mentioned the relationship was likely strained prior to Ember’s unexpected death. OK. So perhaps get a sense of the relationship before getting into the meat of the matter.

She could do that.

Maddie reached out a hand to knock.

* * *

Danny tapped his legs nervously, his eyes flickering to the phone in his lap. His mom had been in there for nearly twenty minutes now, and no contact from her at all. He couldn’t tell if that was concerning or par for the course, this had _no_ precedent in possibly any human conversation ever so far as he knew. The lack of any kind of expectation was bothering him. Maybe he should just turn intangible and poke his head in briefly. It was kind of rude and also possibly illegal, but the tension was killing him.

He was jarred from his concern by the door to the RV opening and Maddie slipping back into the driver’s seat. Her face was curiously blank, her eyes staring straight ahead. Before Danny could ask her what had happened, or for that matter if she was _alright_ , she spoke.

“Danny, do you remember what your father and I taught you about revenge?”

“I… what?” Danny asked, nonplussed.

“Danny, this is important. Do you remember?”

“… yeah? Try not to stoop to the same level as someone who’s done something bad?”

“Right,” Maddie nodded, the blank expression still on her face. “There are still lines we don’t cross when seeking redress against those who’ve wronged us or others, _especially_ if proper channels can’t or won’t do something.”

“OK?”

“It’s also important that you remember this is the exception that proves the rule,” she declared, starting the engine. “Get the extra-large thermos, we’re filling that house with ghosts.”

“… I’m guessing talking mom to mom didn’t go so well, then?” Danny deadpanned.

“No, dear,” Maddie replied, her voice taking on a growling edge. “I think I was the only mother in there.”

“That bad?”

“Did you _know_ she snapped her daughter’s guitar in half for playing, and I quote, ‘the devils music?’ What kind of parent does that to their child’s passion?” She demanded as the RV pulled out of the drive.

Danny shook his head, although his mind did briefly flash to what Ember had said had broken her and Skulker up. Perhaps there was a little more to the story of the hunter ghost breaking one of her instruments than he’d thought at the time.

“You know, Jazz has made some preliminary theories,” Maddie began, becoming more animated and agitated the further away they drove. “That ghost psychology differs mostly in that it’s harder to change behaviour from formation. That however they thought and behaved at the time of expiration is how things stay unless an active effort is made to change or particularly great outside influence forces a reconsideration. She can’t confirm that without more subjects, but even so, if Ember had a mother like _that_ in life, someone who by her own words belittled and enraged her own daughter, and then she _died_ in that environment…”

She sighed, some of the anger leaving her expression. “Well, I guess I can understand why she may have made the choices she did. And I’m… glad she’s trying to not make them anymore.”

A brief silence fell over the two, before Maddie turned to her son again, a determined look on her face as she seemed to come to decision about something.

“Danny, please let Ember know she’s invited to our Thanksgiving dinner.”

Danny smiled, and chalked this trip up to a win anyway.

 _Mom mode activated,_ he thought to himself.

* * *

_Well,_ Ember thought as she walked up out of the basement lab with Danny, box in her hands, _this is surreal._

She’d accepted – accepted, heck, _embraced while cackling_ – that she’d gotten much, much closer to baby pop and his friends than she’d ever thought she would. When she stopped to genuinely think about it, it was bizarre, but it was… nice. They were fun to hang around when they weren’t being a bunch of goody goody’s, and even then, watching Spooks beat them over the head with morality was amusing in its own way. Star was very enthusiastically friendly towards her. It reminded her of Kitty in her first year in the Zone, trying to befriend a more cantankerous Ember.

And the time spent with Danny was… well. Special was probably the truest word for it.

And yet, still the curveballs kept coming, because she did _not_ expect to ever be invited to the home of two of the most infamous ghost hunters known for any kind of dinner, never mind Thanksgiving, and by someone _other_ than baby pop or his sister. Why in the heck Madeline Fenton invited her, she had no idea, and the dipstick was no help – he knew _something_ , she could tell, but he just clammed up whenever she asked.

She was… on edge, a little. If her disastrous encounter with Crazy Red was any indication, not everyone was gonna be alright with her hanging around the human world in _any_ capacity. Danny had been right; they were pretty lucky almost none of his friends had an issue. It was her own fault, she knew, but still irritating. And these were his _ghost hunting parents._ Baby pop clearly didn’t believe it was a trap, but Ember knew her own folks would do whatever they thought was best without bothering to include her in that decision and no matter how much it hurt her.

She’d said all this to him. Then Danny hit her with the puppy dog eyes, and here she was, tense and waiting for some kind of trap or gadget to hit her at any moment.

In contrast, the sight of Jack Fenton punching a warbling turkey ghost was downright relieving.

“Get back in the oven, you delinquent dinner!” The large man roared, his hand around the squawking birds’ neck as it tried to peck him, feathers being released and launched towards him, peppering his face with tiny pockmarks.

Beside her, Danny groaned and pulled the thermos from his belt, blasting the turkey with the bright blue-white stream of light and drawing it in. He slapped the cap on the device with a deadpan stare at his father, who merely smiled sheepishly and shrugged, before beginning the task of getting those feathers off his face.

“Jazz!” Danny called up the stairs, ignoring Ember’s raised eyebrow of inquiry. “You got the backup turkey, right?”

“Of course! It’s in the secret oven!” She shouted back as she descended, a folded tablecloth in her arms.

“The what is in the _what?!_ ” Ember demanded as Danny walked past his father into the kitchen. “Dipstick, what have I walked into?”

“With any luck…” he muttered, pulling open a cabinet, and then seeming to pull out the _back_ of said cabinet to reveal a smaller oven containing a turkey, cooked golden brown. Grabbing the oven gloves from where they hung about his dad’s neck, Danny extracted the bird, gave it the once over and smiled. “You’ve walked into a perfectly cooked turkey!”

The sight of the freshly made and delicious smelling bird seemed to snap Jack out of his fighting focus to notice the _other_ ghost standing somewhat awkwardly at the top of the basement steps. His blank expression swiftly shifted to a welcoming grin, while Ember noticed he grabbed his right hand with his left and held it in place as it twitched towards his hip holster. Well, at least he’s trying.

“Hello!” He greeted loudly. “Nice to meet you! Jack Fenton, ghost hunter extraordinaire!”

“Yeah, we’ve met,” Ember deadpanned. “You blew up my door.”

“… Oh. Right,” Jack said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

“Eh, it’s fine,” Ember shrugged, smirking at the giant of a man. “I _did_ kinda try to take over the town a few times and fought your son, so we’ll call it even.”

Jack boomed a short laugh, before Ember held out the box to him. “Oh yeah, this is for you guys. Baby pop told me fudge would be the best thing to-”

She suddenly realised she was no longer holding the box she’d walked in with, and she had no idea how Jack could move fast enough to _do_ that. The contents of said box, a couple of packs of salted caramel fudge that she’d picked up the day before, were all in Jack Fenton’s arms as he examined in close detail the sweet treats, his eyes wide and his mouth salivating. Before he could do as he clearly intended to do, eat them all in one fell swoop, they were snatched from his grasp by his wife.

“Dear, we’re saving those for dessert,” Maddie admonished, stacking the fudge on top of the plates she was carrying. “Ember, lovely to see you, come through, we’re just setting the table.”

“Uh, sure thing,” Ember replied, following the woman and her dejected husband, Danny besides her giving her a reassuring smile, which she returned. Well, here’s hoping this is only awkward. At least that’s how she remembered the best Thanksgivings going back before. If it goes like the worst… Well, baby pop’ll owe her more than one. She’s got a few ideas to cash in on that.

The spread was pretty good when Ember caught sight of the dinner table, trailing in behind the rest of the family. Roast potatoes, stuffing, green vegetables, the works. Jack busied himself carving the bird, while everyone else got busy with the rest. It belatedly occurred to Ember that she should probably help – manners were one of the things that had atrophied during her years in the Zone. When she tried, however, Maddie waved her off.

“No, you’re our guest, let us do the work.”

Ember looked over at Danny, noting his surprised but pleased expression at that. Alright, so the dipstick wasn’t expecting his mom to be like this. That was… there was no conclusion she could draw from that. Maybe she should have listened to Kitty and read more detective novels. Then she too could overanalyse things like her friend does. Whatever.

Before long, the whole family plus ghostly guest was seated, the food before them looking tantalising. Ember’s stomach rumbled. She didn’t _need_ to eat, any more than she needed to drink or breathe, but she still had tastebuds like every other ghost, and eating for pleasure was a reasonably common past time among ghosts. She wanted to dig in, but as she suspected, the Fenton’s followed at least one Thanksgiving tradition.

“Mine’s not really changed from last year,” Jack mused, his eyes fixed on the roast potatoes in front of him. “I’m still thankful that almost the whole family is able to partake in the joys of ghost hunting!” Ember took note of the ‘almost’ with some curiosity. Who in the family _didn’t_ get involved? Was someone not here or something?

“I’m rather more thankful that we’ve spent a whole year without anyone feeling like they had to hide anything from each other,” Maddie confessed, smiling round at all of her children. Ember glanced at Danny from the corner of her eye to find he’d done the same to her, a guilty look crossing his face for an instant. Yeah. Ember was no expert, but confiding insecurities and fears in who was at the time an enemy instead of your family _probably_ qualified as hiding something. Thankfully, Jazz picked up the thread before it could get too obvious.

“Well, I’m just thankful I’m making some progress in ghost psychology, and that we’re all getting recognition for our accomplishments,” Jazz chirped happily, and Ember could tell she’d rehearsed that line a little. They were all sincere, though, which she threw her for a loop. Families saying this and actually meaning it was outside her usual experience.

It took her a second to realise it was her turn, and had this been any other year, she would probably blow it all off with a joke or struggled to think of something fake to assuage them. But they did seem to be being honest and, well, she _did_ have something for this year, really for the first time since she’d made friends with Kitty.

“I guess I’m thankful baby pop found me in the woods that night,” Ember declared, turning and smiling at the ghost boy in question.

“Hey, you stole mine!” Danny whined good naturedly.

“Too bad,” she deadpanned in return. “Guess you’re gonna have to be thankful for something else, I know you’ve not got much else going on.”

“Fine, I’m thankful I beat Ember in a race,” he retorted, petulantly.

“Dipstick, I will eat you.”

“Your threats are getting weirder and weirder, you know that?”

“What, I can’t keep saying I’ll brain you with my guitar. Gotta mix up my threats every now and then.”

“You could just not threaten me.”

“… I understood all those words, but that sentence made no sense.”

“Alright, alright,” Danny laughed. “Seriously, though, I’m thankful we’re this close to having to set a permanent fifth place at the table.”

Everyone else at the table smiled excitedly at that, and now Ember knew for a fact someone was missing. Baby pop hadn’t told her about _that_ before. Later, though. She was… _mostly_ sure he’d tell her if she asked, and where even _that_ much assurance was coming from, she couldn’t tell. She knew he trusted her, and apparently it went both ways. She’d felt the same before they'd blown the GIW apart. Why she couldn’t ever just know this without something bringing it to the forefront, she couldn’t tell.

Oh right, the instinctive mistrust life had given her, and death had done nothing to assuage, that was it.

Eh. Questions for later. As Jack had begun shovelling food into his mouth, the rest of the Fenton family followed suit, and Ember made a beeline for her crispy, crispy potatoes.

Exactly at the same time as a high-pitched alarm went off, a red light flashing from the wall. Ember tensed as the two youngest Fenton’s made noises of annoyance, putting their cutlery down with a clatter.

“Oh! Ghost alarm!” Jack said enthusiastically, dropping the turkey leg onto his plate. “Guess we’re going to get a Thanksgiving workout before we-!”

“No, dear. Everyone sit back down,” Maddie interrupted, getting up and pulling a panel from the wall to reveal a control station. She glanced at it briefly, before smirking slightly and flipping a switch, cutting the alarm off before sitting back down. “As I thought. The same house as before.”

“Oh, darn it,” Jack replied, slumping in his seat. “I never thought I’d see someone in Amity that _didn’t_ want us to deal with their ghost problem.”

“It can’t be helped, Jack,” Maddie sighed, lightly. _Falsely_ , Ember realised. “If she doesn’t want us on her property and wants to deal with the problem in her own way, we have to let her. At least it’s only the Box Ghost and a few minor poltergeists.”

“Didn’t you say they were trying to exorcise them?” Danny put in, with a definite undercurrent of amusement. “In the ‘traditional’ way?”

“That was it, sweetie. Exorcism doesn’t work, we’ve tried, but I couldn’t talk any sense into Mrs. McLain. Oh well,” Maddie shrugged, settling back down to the table.

Ember stiffened, her eyes wide and staring.

There was no way. There was _no_ way. She didn’t even know if the old bat was still alive. It _sounded_ like her, Ember will admit, certain she knew best in the face of anything or anyone else, but… Why would she even _have_ ghosts? The only one that might want to haunt her specifically and for any length of time was, well, _Ember,_ and she just wanted nothing more to do with the miserable shrew. And why would the towns ghost hunters not be allowed to catch the ghost when they turn up? How…

Her head whipped around to Danny, who simply smiled enigmatically and gestured with his fork towards his mother. Ember locked eyes with the older woman, who didn’t outwardly react at all.

Until she winked at the ghost girl.

… Mrs. F was officially forever in her good books, Ember decided as she bared her teeth in a vindictive grin and dug into her food with greater gusto.

* * *

Kitty had once played whale song for Ember. Why she had was lost to the fog of memory, possibly as simple as “hey, let’s listen to these whales and make up what they’re saying”. Her memories were vague, but not so vague as to not recognise the same category of sound coming from the Fenton patriarch, lolling in his chair in the midst of a food coma, along with his son, who instead made faint noises of contentment like a cat. Jazz was somewhat more capable of movement; in that she was making occasional attempts to rise to help clear up before flopping back into her chair.

The whole thing hadn’t even been _awkward_. Ember was nonplussed. It had been pleasant small talk and laughing and just… nice. They’d asked her about the gig, favourite bands, that kind of thing, just getting to know her. It surprised her too much for her to not do the same thing back before anything funnier could occur to her. Trust even her baby pops family to destroy her expectations enough that she accidentally gave them a good impression of her.

“Ember, would you mind helping me clear the table?” Maddie asked, rising from her chair, and casting a loving smile over the other Fenton’s. “Everyone else seems…”

“Too pregnant with food babies to move?”

“Precisely.”

Ember shrugged her acquiescence and gathered up some plates, hauling them to the kitchen behind the blue jumpsuited woman.

Things were silent for a while as the clean up went on, the only real noise being Jack’s low-pitched humming and Danny’s occasional attempt at gallantry, to get up and help, only being thwarted by his mom waving him off and Ember pushing him back down somewhat more forcefully. The kitchen, however, was where Ember suddenly found the awkwardness she had been expecting. Maddie didn’t say anything, busying herself with loading the dishwasher, and some vague sense of decorum kept Ember from leaving her to it. The silence felt _very_ heavy, somehow.

Ember was on the verge of chucking the nebulous instinct aside and just going back to the table when the ghost hunter broke the silence.

“You have one chance.”

Ember jumped. “… At what?”

“It’s only Fenton _men_ who are dense, dear.”

… Ah. Yes. The ever-evolving relationship Ember had with her son. The fears from before she arrived thundered back in, focused and sharpened. She felt like the whole situation with Danny, whatever name they could put to it, was so, _so_ fragile, that any second some kind of obstacle would drop down and shatter the best thing in her afterlife to tiny pieces. And parents were a _heck_ of an obstacle.

The thought terrified her. Not enough to stop, though.

“I won’t hold it against you if things go badly through no one’s particular fault,” she continued, closing the dishwasher with a muted and final click. “But if you hurt my son deliberately, if this _is_ some plot you’ve decided to try that involves this level of cruelty, as Valerie suggested to me, I will personally break your legs as a starting point.”

Ember didn’t doubt it, but the threat was easily waved aside. No, her fear latched on to something else entirely.

“… Why give me that much of a break?” Ember asked, hating how quiet her voice became, but she _needed_ to know. The more time she spent with baby pop and his friends, the more she thought about Valerie’s accusations, the more her mind ruminated on what she’d done, what she’d _been,_ the less she understood why she was being shown the lenience she was. “I don’t even understand why Danny gave me a shot. Why you too?”

Maddie appeared to think for a moment. “Well, I can’t speak for why Danny has. He’s never told us what convinced him of your change of heart in the first place. But perhaps it was somewhat similar to my reasoning – I’ve come to suspect you never had a chance in life, and if we’re the ones who can give you that in death? Then we’re obligated to let you try.”

Ember smiled, in spite of herself. “Yeah, that… that sounds like baby pop. Well, if he had a better vocabulary.”

“Mm. He takes after me there, I think,” Maddie smiled back. “Although it would appear his feelings on the subject have gone beyond that. I won’t say I’m entirely at peace with it, but I trust my son. One chance, Ember. Don’t make me regret it.”

With that, Maddie moved beyond the ghost girl, out of the kitchen and back to the dining table, leaving Ember to her thoughts for a moment.

It was more than she increasingly felt she deserved, to be given even a conditional blessing for her _whatever_ she had going with baby pop. She was gonna take it, obviously, but… everything about the Fenton’s in private was so _weird_ to her. They’d all been accepting, friendly even, in spite of everything. It was so outside her experience.

Was this what family was _supposed_ to be?

… Not bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To say I’ve had a pig of a time would be underselling the last few weeks for me. I won’t elaborate on everything, but short version – I had a real bad hit of depression, and then my cat had to be put to sleep, and I was the one in the room with her when it happened. Expect someone to acquire a tribute cat at some point, incidentally.
> 
> Everyone I’ve been in correspondence with, I shall get back to you in a few days. Depressed brain is less so.
> 
> But, with any luck, normal service is resumed. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> So two uses of tell, don’t show that I feel obliged to explain, namely the dinner and the chat with Embers mom. I try to avoid doing this, I like you all to see why characters have developed the dynamics they have, even if it’s just their internal thoughts and insecurities. So, here’s why:
> 
> For the former, I genuinely couldn’t think of too much in the way of dialogue that would make the actual dinner play out in an interesting manner. Mildly fluffy, in the Fenton family being fun dinner company and a much better family than Ember is cynically expecting, but frankly if I haven’t established their personalities enough for you to just know that, I’ve goofed already.
> 
> For the latter, I actually went back and forth on giving Ember’s mom some actual dialogue and scenes. I decided against it for a few reasons – I have absolutely no intention of ever revisiting her in any capacity, having a whole conversation which details child abuse would just drag the whole tone of the fic down (or at least, I think so, I laughed at myself most during this one), it struck me as equally effective to just have Maddie walk out of there outraged, and finally, whatever I write, it won’t be as effective as your own imaginations. I mean, she’s an extremely religious control freak parent whose punk rock daughter died in a mysterious, possibly supernatural fire. You can probably fill in the blanks there.
> 
> Do drop a comment, I always enjoy hearing what people have to say!


	20. Showtime

“This was a terrible idea,” Ember moaned, floating back and forth in the bare space laughably called a dressing room.

“No, it wasn’t,” Danny replied, leaning against the wall, almost bored. They’d been through this a few times now.

“I’m gonna go out there and make an _idiot_ out of myself!” She fretted, seemingly ignoring the ghost boy a few feet away to continue her pacing in the air.

“No you won’t,” came the retort, Danny idly examining his phone.

“And that’s if anyone even turns up in the first place!”

Danny didn’t bother responding to that one, simply turning his phone around to his current lock-screen – a photo of Ember he’d taken when she found out tickets to her show had sold out in three minutes. He couldn’t not capture that look of absolute bafflement, her usually scowling eyes round and her mouth pressed together in confusion.

“I told you to delete that!”

“And you thought I’d listen to you?” He asked, eyebrow raised.

“Oh, whatever!” She rolled her eyes and resuming her display of aerial nerves. Danny shook his head and grinned. Before he got to know her, he never would have thought the tough, confident ghost girl he’d fought nearly two years ago would get stage fright. He knew better now, of course, but it was still an amusing contrast. Danny was going to get a lot of mileage out of it in the future.

The fact he was imagining where he and Ember would be in the future wasn’t lost on him, for once.

It had been weeks of completely necessary preparation that was _not_ just disguised dates, but the time had finally come to do what they’d ostensibly been trying to set up for a month and a half (and could have done in a week). Ember had her human world gig, a smaller venue than they could have gotten, around two hundred max capacity. No powers, and no outside influence – she’d been insistent on that, otherwise Star would have just asked every Casper High student to get tickets.

Danny couldn’t even _mention_ the show in public, because they assumed (probably rightly, to his irritation) that anything he said would be overheard and influence events. It still boggled his mind that him casually mentioning in school he liked a local pizza place Sam had taken them to had ended up with a growing new chain restaurant and free delivery pizzas for life. How much weight his words had made him uncomfortable.

“What if I get up on stage and you’re wrong?” She continued, the pacing becoming slower as her words came out quicker. “What if I play my stuff and it’s just a repeat of high school? Everyone laughing at me and throwing things and I don’t know if I’ll be able to not start chucking blasts at the dipsticks if that happens again and you’ll have to stop me and then we just go back to how things used to be and I don’t want to do that ever again, baby pop, not _ever_ \- “

But maybe people paying his words more attention would be useful about now. This had gone far past funny stage fright now.

Danny pushed himself off from the wall and stood in Ember’s path. Her long string of fears and worries cut off as he put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye.

“Ember,” he began. “I already know you’re going to do great out there, because you’re the single most talented person I’ve ever met. But since I’m pretty sure you won’t believe that right now, believe this – you are _not_ getting rid of me that easily, rockstar. No matter what happens on that stage tonight, you’re stuck with me.”

He could have sworn the dim bulb the dressing room had suddenly upped its wattage as Ember smiled at him and the room seemed to get brighter.

“… Thanks, dipstick. Good to know I can start my crime spree when we’re done here,” she snarked, her words entirely at odds with the soft tone she said them in.

“Y’know, fun thing,” Danny replied lightly, wanting to keep them off the topic of the gig. Well, that and even now, after nearly three months to get used to it, their banter was still the most fun thing for him. “Legally speaking, nothing you can do is against the law. You’re dead. The law can’t touch you. If they wanted to get at me, there’d be a huge fiasco about which I count as, but I might get away with it too.”

“… And you wait until now to tell me this?!” Ember shouted in mock anger. “Forget the gig, baby pop! _Crimes!_ We need to wander into the vault at the bank and swim in the money!”

“I can tell you from experience that is _deeply_ uncomfortable.”

“I don’t care! Let me swim!”

“Tell you what, you do this gig, and we can do a crime of your choice,” he said, sarcasm dripping from every word. Worryingly, Ember didn’t seem to pick up on it with the way she grinned and nodded, so he tried a different tack; at least this was distracting her. “You already didn’t care about the law, how is this different?”

“Because _now,_ I can steal the Crown Jewels of England and dance in front of the Queen, and there isn’t a thing they can do to stop me even if they have the weapons to do it!” She crowed. “I get to stick it to the system in the best way!”

“I’m going to regret telling you that, aren’t I?”

“You have _no idea._ ”

Danny groaned good naturedly. “Well, at least the GIW might go after you instead of me for a while.”

“You using me as bait, Phantom?”

“Yup. I need to get some use out of you besides sass.”

“Isn’t that my line?” She asked, mirth creeping into her voice.

“Yeah, but you’re rubbing off on me,” Danny shrugged. “Next thing you know I’ll be dyeing my hair blue and calling everyone dipsticks.”

“… I know you’re kidding, but I _need_ to see that. You’re about due a style update anyway.”

“I am not style updating to _you._ That’s your look, I’m not stealing it.”

“Literally anything would be an improvement, baby pop,” she retorted, plucking at his white t-shirt. “I say style update. _A style_ is what you need.”

“Rude. At least I don’t style myself some hardcore rocker, then get jittery at a two-hundred-person gig.”

Ember’s only response to that was a long, groaning scream and a swipe at the halfa’s head that he handily ducked while chuckling.

“Why did you remind me, dipstick? Ugh, I’m gonna flipping lose it when you go, I can just tell.”

Danny paused a moment, before grinning mischievously. He _did_ have to go before she took the stage, him being in the audience in case something happened was a condition the venue owner insisted on, along with the ghost scanners manned by his friends to prove there was no hypnotic influence. So he needed something to distract her more permanently.

And he had just the thing.

Before the ghost girl could react, Danny darted forward and planted his lips on her cheek, a loud “mwah” echoing in the bare space. Ember stared back in blank shock as he pulled back.

“You’ll do great, gotta go, bye!” He rapid fired, before dashing towards the wall and phasing through it.

Seconds later, the cry of “DIPSTICK, GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW” followed him and he smirked. Well, at least she’s focused on something else now.

She really was rubbing off on him.

* * *

“Well, _you_ look pleased with yourself,” Sam remarked dryly as Danny approached their table at the back of the venue. The ghost boy shrugged playfully.

“What can I say, preventing a breakdown from the star of the show gets me happy.”

“Is Ember alright?” Jazz piped up. Sat next to her was Star, the white-furred pom-pom of her Santa hat swinging around as she nodded her repetition of the question.

“Yeah, it’s just some nerves,” Kitty reassured from the other side of the table, taking a swig from a soda. “She was freaking out a little before we got here. She’ll do fine!”

“Pretty much what I said,” Danny agreed, taking a seat with them, and scanning the room. Fair sized, most of the venue was taken up by the big square space where the audience was expected to stand, right in front of the smallish stage. Beyond that, the place – _Spectre of Sound_ – looked like more or less any space intended for a rowdy audience – dim lighting, the walls plastered with previous acts posters, bar lining one wall, and high tables scattered around, with a few booths in the back, where Team Phantom plus Johnny and Kitty had set up. Scattered here and there were a few vaguely Christmas themed decorations – the middle of December made them inevitable, Danny supposed.

The place was filling up, slowly but surely, for the first concert given by Ember McLain in nearly two years.

“Hey Tuck, you got all the scanners good to go?” Danny asked.

“Yeah, man,” Tucker replied, giving a thumbs up before patting small grey metal box on the table in front of him. “If Ember does anything spookier than teleport, this’ll pick it up.”

“Good. I really doubt she will, but the manager insisted, and at least this way when she brings the house down, we can shut up anyone who says otherwise.”

“Heck yeah!” Johnny shouted, raising his bottle in toast. “Say what you want about flame-brain, but she can _play_.”

“Oooo, I hope she plays a few Christmas songs,” Star said, her fist clenched before her in hope. “I asked her, and she said she might!”

“The first Scrooge-like comment about Christmas songs is getting a drink thrown at you,” Sam warned, her finger pointed at a scandalised Danny.

“I would _never_!”

“You would never _stop_ , you mean,” Sam deadpanned.

“Why do you hate Christmas, Danny?”

“Star, I don’t hate Christmas, I just- “

“He hates Christmas. He’s a Scrooge,” Sam interrupted. “And a Grinch. He’s a Grooge.”

“Oh, whatever. I just hope this doesn’t get interrupted,” Danny groused. “I couldn’t get cover for tonight.”

“Oh, yeah. Your parents had that consultation thing they couldn’t get out of, right?” Tucker piped up, fiddling with the sensor array.

“Yup. And Valerie…”

“Still not talking to you?” Sam interjected and Danny slumped.

“No,” he said miserably. “I’ve tried a few times, but she’s just ignoring me.”

He rubbed his eyes in frustration, before he spoke. “Be honest, guys, could I have handled that better? At least to the point where we’re not down a friend?”

“Probably,” Tucker shrugged, before yelping as Sam smacked the back of his head. “What?! There probably _was_ some way to handle that to where Valerie didn’t decide to cut all ties _again_ , but so what? Danny shouldn’t have to choose between appeasing Valerie and not letting Ember get shot in the head, so this is on her!”

“… Huh. I take the slap back,” Sam remarked, looking impressed. “That was actually kinda mature.”

“ _Thank_ you,” Tucker replied, somewhat primly. “So don’t worry about it. Not your fault.”

Danny smiled at his best friends. “Thanks, guys.”

“You know, if you wanted, I could talk to her for you?” Star added, hesitantly. As far as Danny knew, Star had managed to maintain her friendship with both Valerie _and_ Team Phantom/Ember without problems on either side. It was tempting, but…

“No,” he said, definitively. “This is between me and Val. I’m not going to make you choose between friends. You got enough of that nonsense from Paulina.”

She didn’t reply, but the grateful smile she shot him told him all he needed to know about how close that guess was.

“Alright, enough depressing crud,” Johnny declared, standing from the booth. “I’m gonna get more drinks, anyone else wanna come with?”

Nearly the entire table nodded their assent, and left with the biker ghost, leaving Danny alone with Kitty. Danny gave his sole companion a look, a look that said with far more eloquence than he could manage with words, ‘oh, ok, so you arranged for us to be left alone for a while’, to be met with a perfectly innocent smile on the face of the green haired ghost. So perfect he almost believed it, before remembering he was dealing with the woman who’d tricked the whole Ghost Zone into a truce to throw a party and get him together with her best friend.

“Sooooo,” Kitty drawled, elongating the word and somehow putting much more suggestion into it than should have been possible. “How have things been, Danny?”

“Oh, you know, same old, same old,” he shot back. Two can play at this game.

He and Kitty both stared each other down, neither wanting to crack. Danny, however, had stared down tougher than Kitty, and she evidently knew it.

“Oh, screw it,” she muttered. “Tell me! Ember hasn’t told me anything about the dates you two have been on, I’m _dying_ here, Danny! Y’know, again!”

“Dates?” Danny gasped, feigned shock all over his face. “Why, how dare you imply something unprofessional has been happening! They’ve all been business meetings!”

“Yeah, yeah, and Walker’s a hippie,” she scoffed. “Come _on,_ I helped set it up, I wanna know how it’s going! Is Ember happy? Are _you_?”

Danny was, against all common sense, touched. Kitty may be an absolute gossip hound and a busybody of the highest order, but she’s at least more focused on the happiness of the people she’s prodding into action than anything else. So, he decided to indulge her.

“Can’t speak for Ember,” he replied in a lower volume, even as some small part of him realised that in this, he probably _could._ “And this doesn’t leave this table, but… I don’t think I’ve been happier in a while.”

He had to cover his ears for a moment as Kitty’s squeal of delight threatened to rival his Wail for destructive force. Ghost sometimes develop new powers just as a matter of course, right? Maybe this was hers.

“I _knew_ it!” She stage-whispered. “I knew you’d be good for each other! That night we trashed Plasmius’ place, I hadn’t seen her that upbeat in _ages_ and that was all you, wasn’t it?”

“I… might have helped a little, yeah.”

“Quit being modest, you _doof_. What’ve you two been doing? Have you kissed a ghoul yet?” She teased.

“No! … Well, kind of no,” He amended. “Cheek kisses don’t count, right? ‘Cause that just happened.”

“Dressing room trysts! _Scandalous!”_

“Oh my _God_ , Kitty.”

“Come on, you seriously haven’t kissed yet? It’s been like a month since you started dating!”

“Having business meetings,” Danny insisted, ignoring Kitty’s rolling eyes. “Seriously, we’ve got to keep that up for the moment. And that’s kind of why we’ve not done much more than go on ‘business meetings’, really.”

“How do you mean?” She asked, tilting her head quizzically. Danny scratched at his head and looked at the ceiling, trying to find the right words.

“Because we _need_ it, sure, business meetings and it being a secret evil plot for Ember are convenient excuses we can give people so she doesn’t, you know, get attacked by everyone, but I… I didn’t want to push things past finding out if we work together, if that makes any sense? I don’t want things to go too far under a lie.”

“But you’re both in on it, it’s not like you’re lying to _her_ ,” Kitty insisted, still confused.

“Yeah,” Danny sighed. “It’s… complicated, and weird, and we’re going to talk about it after the show. But I don’t want to just _assume_ she’s alright with being my secret. Ember deserves better than that anyway.”

“Awwww!” Kitty cooed, her hands pressed to her cheeks. “That’s really sweet, Danny! You’ll be a great boyfriend!”

Danny blushed and rubbed the back of his head at the praise, then started forward. That reminded him.

“Actually, do you mind if I ask you something weird?”

“Hmmm… OK, but I’m gonna want date details after,” she replied, picking up her soda and leaning back. “What do you wanna know?”

“What was Skulker like as a boyfriend?”

Kitty spluttered and coughed as she spat her drink back up into her glass, her eyes widening in surprise. After a few thumps on the back from Danny, she turned to look at the halfa disbelievingly.

“ _What_?! Where did that come from?!”

Danny shrugged. “He’s been kind of on my mind recently.”

Well, he _had_ , just not in this particular capacity.

Team Phantom had gone back and forth for a while about who could have stolen the GIW’s experimental ecto-generator and gotten nowhere until Tucker remembered something – back during their trip to the VRCade, Ember had mentioned someone had stolen soul-steel from Walker. Soul-steel being the strongest known metal in the Ghost Zone, phase-proof and rare. If you assume the thefts were connected, they reasoned, that narrowed the likely suspects down to either Technus or Skulker, and since they both tended to avoid making an appearance until their projects were complete, the money was on Skulker. He’d not been around in nearly three months at this point.

Quite what ridiculous trap the ghost hunter had in mind this time, Danny was in absolutely no hurry to discover, especially since whatever it was wasn’t at his realm, the first place Danny checked when they’d made the theory. But given the materials and time, it was likely convoluted and intricate. Deadly went without saying. Danny’d just have to keep backup as close as possible until it was sprung. He doubted Valerie was _that_ mad at him she wouldn’t answer the emergency button. Probably.

But thinking about the hunter _had_ made him realise something else.

“I guess it’s just, the more I get to know Ember, the less I understand why they even dated. Unless there’s some side to Skulker I’m not seeing.”

“You’re not _jealous_ , are you?” Kitty asked incredulously, to Danny’s scoffing.

“Pft. As if. I’ve yet to drive Ember to snag you and banish all men again, I already know I’m doing better.”

The ghost girl snorted a laugh. “You know some women came up to me and asked me to do it again before we got here?” She chortled, before she scrunched up her face, trying to recall. “As for Skulker, I wouldn’t really call him a boyfriend.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well…” She emulated Danny’s skyward glance for aid in wording this right. “You know how when you were kids, you’d say this person was your girlfriend or whatever, but you had no idea what that even meant because you were six?”

“… I mean, not personally, I only had two friends, but I get the idea,” Danny shrugged.

“That’s real cheery,” Kitty remarked sarcastically. “Right, well, that’s kind of what it was like for Skulker. I don’t think he really wanted a _relationship_ with Ember, or anyone really. He just wanted to get some cred back after you kept kicking his butt and he knew dating someone like Ember would give it to him, but I don’t think he really thought through what it meant.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Skulker alright,” Danny rolled his eyes. “Let me guess – he spent the whole time being ‘me, me, me’ and ignored Em?”

“Pretty much,” Kitty shrugged. “Blew off dates to hunt, never did anything _she’d_ like to do, never even really bothered talking to her. I don’t think he got these things are supposed to be mutually… what’s the word…”

“Beneficial?”

“That’s it. You’re supposed to wanna be around them, help ‘em out, take care of ‘em. Partners but with kissing, kind of thing. No, that’s too simple. Supposed to… Doesn’t matter,” Kitty stopped, waving the topic aside. “Anyway, didn’t take a lot of this before Ember kicked his metal behind out the door, in literal pieces. Not all that long after the whole ‘save the world’ thing.”

That about coincided with when she said she’d hit her existential crisis full on, Danny mused. Well, made sense. Maybe she thought dating him would be a distraction from all that. Much as he’d like to know, asking would just dredge it all up just for his own curiosity, and he happened to like his head where it was, thanks.

“Anyway, enough about delusional trashcans,” Kitty dismissed, slamming her drink on the table. “Details! Gimmie your favourite ‘business meeting’, at least.”

Danny grinned, and opened his mouth to relay one of the last ones, that had started with an dinner at a Japanese restaurant and had ended in the nearby quarry blowing up rocks.

Blue mist escaped his mouth instead.

He looked at Kitty, whose face was as ashen and horrified as his own.

_Heck and darn and shoot and all the other substitutes for words I promised mom and dad I wouldn’t say until I was eighteen!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter than usual, but I’m likely to be pretty busy the next few weeks for one reason or another, and I didn’t want you guys to have to wait another month and a half for an update. Besides, that line just instantly struck me as a funny cliff-hanger.
> 
> Do drop a comment if you can, and Happy New Year!


	21. Encore

_Of course it couldn’t just be the Box Ghost,_ Danny complained internally as he flew to the sounds of screams and disturbance.

About the only silver lining to having to respond to some ghost deciding yeah, OK, let’s just drag Danny away from the show being put on by his fri… his girlfri… by Ember, was that it wasn’t all that far from the venue. Hopefully, he could just cram whoever was there in the thermos quickly and get back before Ember took the stage. Or at least not too far into it. He didn’t want to miss a single thing, and not just because Ember would decapitate him.

Sadly, the sight that greeted him on Main Street was all the confirmation he needed that this wasn’t going to be easy.

A swirling maelstrom hung above the broad street, the ectoplasmic glow from it bathing the streets. Objects flew around in circles, joined to the maelstrom by an unnatural green aura, spinning at high speeds. Closer examination, though, revealed all the things caught up in the ghostly phenomenon were technological, ranging from larger household items like TV’s and speakers to smaller, more personal electronics.

Which made sense, given who was at the centre of it all.

“Aha! There you are, ghost child! Now we can truly begin! Witness as I, **TECHNUS,** the master of all things beeping and advanced, con- “

Whatever longwinded rant Technus was about to embark upon was interrupted as Danny launched himself forward and punched him in the mouth, sending the tech ghost careening backward through the air. Technus halted himself mid-air and rubbed his jaw, glaring at the town hero.

“Ow! Rude!” Technus whined. “Were you not taught to let people finish their- AH!”

He darted to the side just as an acid green beam shot at him, the edges of his cape singed and burned. Technus turned and held out his hand, willing all the technology under his command into Danny’s face. The maelstrom shifted and flexed, before everything changed direction, speeding to the halfa. “What is the _matter_ with you, child?! Such aggression! Your temper will be your downfall as ever!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard the emotions are bad thing before,” Danny shot back, blasting the projectiles as it came at him, and spinning and swooping mid-air to avoid what he couldn’t simply destroy. “Can we speed this along? I’ve got some place I’d rather be than trading shots with the mullet that floats like a ghost.”

Technus paused briefly, then a malicious, trollish smirk appeared on his face.

“Do you mean to say there is a time-sensitive event that you don’t want to miss but dealing with me takes precedence?”

Danny’s eyes widened in dread. _Oh, me and my mouth._ “Um…”

The tech ghost took advantage of his brief distraction to direct a flying TV at him, the screen cracking as it smashed over the top of his head and wrapped around his neck, giving Danny a techno-ruff, before Technus cackled like a maniac and flew into the sky.

“Catch me if you can, ghost child!” He roared with glee.

“Isn’t this kind of a step down for the mighty Technus?” Danny asked clumsily, flattery not coming all that easily to him.

“Oh, child – Irritating and inconveniencing you will just make my ultimate triumph all the sweeter!”

With that, Technus took off, lightning flaring from his hands as he blasted downwards at random to ensure Danny’s continued interest.

Danny groaned in frustration, his hands coming up to rip the TV from his neck. Well, look on the bright side – surely Technus couldn’t keep this up for _that_ long?

* * *

“I’m not telling her,” Kitty insisted. “No way.”

“Well, why not?” Tucker protested. “You know she’s going to set the place on fire if she just finds out!”

“Yeah, and buildings can be replaced!” The biker girl shot back. “I, on the other hand, am a precious ghostly flower who doesn’t deserve to be burned into non-existence!”

“Oh, quit being melodramatic,” Sam said, rolling her eyes. “They both must have known Danny getting called away to deal with some idiot causing trouble was a possibility. She won’t take it _that_ badly. At worst she’ll be bummed and give him grief later.”

Kitty rubbed at her eyes exasperatedly. Why, oh why was explaining how she knew what someone was going to do somehow harder than actually predicting it? Seriously!

OK, yeah, fine, nobody here had known Ember all that long outside of shooting random bolts of energy at each other. That was probably why. She was sure only Danny came close to really getting her at this point, and even then, he had some catching up to do to match what _she_ knew about her best friend.

“You guys don’t know her like I do,” she insisted. “She’s only even doing this because of Danny. He’s like her, um…”

“Muse?” Star chirped.

“Yeah, sure. I was trying not to say safety blanket, but muse is better,” Kitty nodded. “I dunno what’ll happen if Ember finds out her ‘muse’ isn’t here, but it isn’t gonna be peaceful.”

“So don’t tell her.”

Kitty’s head whipped around to her boyfriend lounging up against the wall next to their booth. Johnny caught her expression and shrugged nonchalantly. “What? What she don’t know won’t hurt her. It’s Phantom, anyway. Unless some idiot woke up Pariah again, or Plasmius crash landed in the middle of Amity, he’ll probably have ‘em stuffed in the thermos before flame brain’s done with her set.”

“… That’s not a bad point,” Tucker mused. “Guess you’re not all idiot.”

“Hey!” Johnny protested, missing the exchanged eyebrow between Jazz and Kitty.

“I mean… might be fine,” Jazz acquiesced. “If Danny doesn’t come back in time, we’re in trouble, but we were in trouble anyway. If she’s already _that_ emotionally dependent on Danny’s presence like Kitty says, all we’d be doing is worrying her unnecessarily.”

“You’re all overthinking this,” Sam deadpanned. “Come on. She’s gotten up on stage before, you think she’s not gonna cope this time without Danny? Please. She’s tougher than _that._ ”

“Do mine ears deceive me, or is this Sam Manson complimenting Ember McLain?” Tucker put in, his tone teasing. “ _Complimenting_ a different _girl_ who hangs around _Danny_?”

“Tucker, I really wouldn’t,” Jazz put in, her eyes alight with concern as Sam closed her eyes and muttered under her breath, the words ‘I don’t have the right to be jealous’ repeated like a mantra. Shortly after, she exhaled, before turning to her oldest friend with baleful eyes.

“Tucker?”

“… Y-Yes?”

“Shut.”

“Shutting.”

Sam ended her glare at the beret’d mayor and turned to the rest of the group. “Johnny’s right. Danny’ll have whatever’s out there wrapped up quick, and we won’t have given Ember an excuse to burn the place down if you _really_ think she’s _that_ insecure.”

“It’s a moot point,” Jazz declared as the lights dimmed, purple smoke coalescing on the stage as the rest of the crowd started to cheer. “Show’s starting!”

“Besides, it’s Danny,” Star opined as she shot to her feet to join the crowd. “Have a little faith!”

* * *

_This is an hour of my life I will never get back,_ Danny thought as he dodged around an amber laser that fired from a nearby stoplight, _and I’ve spent it listening to Technus rant and ramble instead of Ember’s music. Hello, perfectly placed aggression!_

An entire _hour_ of the egotistical maniac shouting taunts and insults while not even fighting back. Just dodging and escaping and being _insufferable._ He didn’t even seem to have a _goal,_ which made the whole thing that much more infuriating. He was missing the gig so Technus could get his kicks! Well, no more. It had taken the entire time and some careful manoeuvring, but he finally had a clear shot in the skies above Amity, and he was taking it. With any luck he could get back for at least the last few songs.

His hand glowed brightly as the energy cascaded through the sky at the billowing cape on the back of Technus. The ghost cried out in pain and dropped, tumbling through the air as he hurtled towards the ground. Danny followed, landing in front of the downed ghost, who’d landed in between… two big piles of junk?

“Oh no!” Technus cried, standing to his feet, and pressing the back of his hand to his forehead, his skill at acting dismayed as terrible as ever. “You shot me down… _exactly where I wanted to be!_ NYAH HA HA HA!”

_Oh, heck,_ Danny realised with a jolt as Technus spread his arms wide and his arms glowed a bright blue, _we’re in the scrapyard!_

Random pieces of metal and plastic flew in and smashed into the ground around Technus, glowing as Technus rose into the air as whatever he was building formed around his body. In less time than Danny would have thought possible, standing before him was a rusted, hulking battle robot in the vague image of the tech ghost, shining blue ectoplasm erupting from the cracks and crevices of the broken metal and patchwork limbs.

“AH HA!” The voice of Technus echoed from somewhere within the amalgamation of junk, as the robot slowly took a battle stance, chains with engine blocks attached clasped in its fists. “Behold! My ultimate scrap creation! According to my calculations, you have _no_ chance to penetrate the thick rust and random assortment of metal of my magnificent mismatched mech before I claim your half-life!”

“… You think I can’t punch through rusted metal? How do you even do these calculations?”

“With data provided by never-ending faith in my own superiority and your braindead foolishness, ghost child!”

Danny had run out of patience some time ago, itching to ram Technus into the thermos, be done with him and get back to his rockstars show, but that was the absolute limit. He would accept disrespect and insults from his friends, but he’d go hang if he let his enemies treat him like this!

He was vaguely aware that was backwards. Whatever. Big guns time.

“And how about if I scream at you real loud to stop, wire for brains? What do you calculate that’ll do?” He drawled, bracing himself on the ground.

“… Um…”

Danny didn’t let Technus get another word in as he drew a breath, reared his head back before he threw it forward, vibrating with power as he opened his mouth and roared at the mech.

The Ghostly Wail had exactly the result he’d hoped for. The air surrounding Technus’ creation distorted and twisted, rust shearing off in great chunks as the ethereal scream did its work. The joints, held together by a hodge-podge of whatever Technus could find, broke apart, the limbs of the rust robot flying backwards and clanging hard against the piles of trash. The torso tumbled back along with the rest, crashing against the rest of the mech and splintering apart.

The ghost boy closed his mouth, cutting the Wail off, the echo of the high-pitched moaning reverberating off the stacks of discard machinery and electronics, breathing heavily and grinning. It was always nice when his regular set made things easier for him. They always left some hole in their plans for him to exploit – in this case, dragging the fight somewhere Technus would have ample raw materials just left Danny free to hit hard without worrying about civilian casualties or breaking too much stuff. You’d think they’d learn.

Any elation he felt, however, died a slow death as he heard Technus shove the metal plating off himself and start… laughing. Long, loud and maniacally, just laughing as he lay there amidst the wreckage of his scrap mech. Danny frowned, approaching the collapsed and apparently hysterical ghost with thermos at the ready and fist ignited with energy.

“Something funny, Technus?” He challenged. “Finally gone completely nuts? Because this was half-baked by your already low standards.”

Technus wiped tears from his eyes before replying. “Ah, child! I’m glad you recognise that this little jaunt lacked the true touch of genius my grand intellect can provide! No, this was merely me ‘messing’ with you, as you hip kids say!”

“Oh for the love of- Technus, ‘hip’ hasn’t been a word since like the fifties.”

“I think I’m more clued into the ‘lingo’ of the youth than _you,_ Phantom! I shall miss your amusing delusions!”

Danny decided the language battle wasn’t one he was winning, so decided to move on. “Miss me? _Please_ tell me you’re retiring to wherever it is ghost supervillains go when they’ve had enough. You can spend your days in the home knitting circuit patterns or whatever.”

“Don’t be so _dense,_ child! I shall never cease until the world recognises the brilliance that is Technus! No, I’ll miss you because you’re going to _die._ ”

Danny froze. “… What?”

“You heard me!” Technus screeched, his voice filled with glee and his words coming out half laughed. “I have seen your end coming! I helped _make_ it! All I wanted was one last dance with the _great_ Danny Phantom before he meets his doom! One final battle to remember you by! And to ensure you knew at the end that I, **TECHNUS,** master of the singularity, champion of technological progress, played a role in your demise!”

Technus’ howls of laughter persisted even as Danny pressed the button and he vanished into the thermos, the echoes of his mirth bouncing off the walls of Danny’s mind.

That was… unsettling. He got threats all the time from Technus, that was nothing new. But he was so convinced _someone else_ was going to do the job this time, he just _had_ to come through and get a last hurrah in? For an egomaniac like Technus, that was unprecedented.

Danny stood there for a moment, lost in thought and analysis, trying to come at this from as many angles as he could then and there. What could prompt a dipstick like Technus to-

Wait. Did he just _think_ dipstick?

His eyes widened.

_Ember’s show!_

* * *

Danny near crashed to the floor as he phased in through the ceiling, collapsing to his knees in front of the booth where his friends were sitting.

Well, _had_ been sitting. It, like every other bit of seating in the venue had been abandoned, the scanner they’d brought as a precaution left unmanned, the floor in front of the stage completely packed with chanting fans, their repeated cries of “EMBER!” all the louder for the small space.

Chanting fans in front of an empty stage, the last whisps of freestanding fire vanishing into the air.

“No…” Danny murmured, his face devastated. He’d missed the whole thing. “Stupid, _stupid_ Technus!”

His fist slammed into ground in frustration, the impact shaking the floor. What he gets for punching things as Phantom, he supposed. Darn it. He should be more careful about that. People could get hurt if he lost his temper. It just… he’d been looking forward to this. To seeing Ember do what he was sure she was meant for, what seemed to make her happiest. It’d gone well, clearly, but he… he’d wanted it to be a moment they could share. Selfish, perhaps, but still.

Danny looked up, hoping nobody had noticed his outburst. It was not to be, as two pairs of eyes, one pair red and the other green turned from the crowd to investigate, and he found himself smiling sadly and sheepishly into the faces of both Kitty and Star. Both girls instantly adopted sympathetic expressions as they guessed at his plight, before turning to each other and nodding. They turned back to the crowd and kept up the cheering, no longer repeating Embers name, but a similar word, that gradually got picked up by the rest of audience.

“ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE!”

For a moment it appeared like nothing would happen. Then the air churned and swirled as a firestorm appeared on stage once again, clearing to reveal Ember, her guitar raised above her head and a fierce smile on her lips, her hair twisting and curling and _bigger_. Danny felt his face instantly light up at the sight of her, as the crowd roared their approval of her return.

“Well, well!” Ember shouted into a mic she conjured from flame, in full performer mode. “Couldn’t get enough of me, huh? You want _more?_ ”

The audience screamed yes, Danny adding his own voice to the demands. He could swear he saw her eyes light on him as she looked around and her mouth twist into a softer smile for an instant before she went back to the mic.

“Alright! Just for you, I’ve got one more for ya! Don’t you feel special?!”

_She has the entire crowd just eating out of her hand_ , Danny thought as he grinned at her. He knew it, he _knew_ she’d be great at this, mind-control nowhere to be seen, just her. It’s all she ever needed, and he hoped she’d know it after this. He’d tell her as much if she didn’t and keep telling her until she believed it.

“But you know,” she mused, exaggeratedly tapping her chin with her finger. “I’ve played a lot of old stuff and covers tonight. So let’s mix that up a little! Who wants to hear something _new?!_ ”

The moment of dead silence that followed that question was shattered by the loudest cheer yet, none louder than Danny’s own.

“Then let’s get to it!” She roared, purple smoke popping into existence behind her, her pink bandmates warping into existence behind her, drum set, bass and keyboard coming with them. Constructs, according to her, only able to do whatever she taught them to, but they really save on having to hire and train other band members. Ember struck a pose with her fist in the air as her minions readied themselves.

“This one goes out to my first night in the Ghost Zone!” She shouted above the noise of the crowd.

And with that, she started playing.

The song was _very_ different to what Danny had thought of as their song, the one she’d played for him in the ruins of Vlad’s building. _That_ was quieter and slower, increasing in pace and intensity as it went. This one was starting harsh and hard and looked to keep going that way. Not that it changed the way Danny looked at her if the sly grin he could see Kitty sporting in his peripheral vision was anything to go by, the wonder he held as Ember started to sing.

“ _Cold and black inside this coffin,_

_‘Cause you all tried to keep me down!_

_How it feels to be forgotten,_

_But you’ll never forget me now!_

_Enemies clawing at my eyes_

_I scratch and bleed just to stay alive!_

_The zombies come out at night,_

_They’ll never catch me, they’ll never catch me!”_

This must have been different to everything that had come before as well, because the crowd didn’t quite seem to know how to react at first. They soon got into it though, jumping around and banging their heads as Ember and her band upped the energy, shouting wildly and cheering.

_“Light it up, light it up, now I’m burning!_

_Feel the rush, feel the rush of adrenaline!_

_We are young, we are strong, we will rise,_

_‘Cause I’m back, back, back from the dead tonight!_

_To the floor, to the floor, hit the redline!_

_Flyin’ high, flyin’ high at the speed of light!_

_Full of love, full of light, full of fight,_

_‘Cause I’m back, back, back from the dead tonight!_

The crowd, the band and even the music seemed to fade away as Danny watched Ember intently. The way her hair rippled as she played, the mile-wide smile she sported even as she sang about what frankly sounded like a really bad first night, her eyes sparkling with glee. He didn’t know if he’d ever seen someone look so _right_ , so in their own element quite like this, so totally free with themselves.

God, she couldn’t look any more beautiful to him than this.

_“Break the skin, you spread like poison,_

_Dyin’ slow under your attack,_

_How it feels to be the broken,_

_You took a piece, now I’m biting back!”_

As the chorus came round again and Ember’s fingers danced out a blistering melody, Danny came to a decision. Screw caution. Screw the Ghost Zone and its collection of jerks. If Ember would have him, he was hers, and vice versa. They’ll deal with it, they’d find a way, but he for one wasn’t going to let a thing stop him sharing his life with her for as long as they’d have each other.

_“Dead tonight!_

_Back from the dead tonight!_

_Dead tonight!_

_Back from the dead tonight!”_

With one final slam on her guitar strings, the song ended and the audience erupted once more into incoherent cheering and screaming, the sonic wall deafening. Eventually, though, the incoherency resolved itself into the chanting so familiar to the concerts of Ember’s past, with one key difference – this time, she wasn’t _making_ them chant her name.

“EMBER! EMBER! EMBER! EMBER!”

She’d earned it.

“You’ve been great, Amity! Good night!” She roared into the mic, a column of fire spontaneously wrapping around her as her band minions vanished into pink smoke. Danny smiled, and turned himself invisible and intangible as he dashed for the backstage part of the venue, determined to get there ahead of everyone else.

He needed to congratulate the star, after all.

* * *

Danny near literally screeched to a halt, rubber boots being what they were, as he phased through the dressing room wall, his head whipping around to find the girl of the hour propping herself up against the wall. Her hair coiled above her like a flaming serpent, larger once again thanks to the cheers of her audience, flicking and writhing around.

“Ember!” He called out, the ghost girl stiffening as she heard his voice. “That was _amazing!_ I knew you could do it! I only caught the encore because flippin’ Technus decided to get a sense of fun _now,_ but you _rocked_ it! I told you you didn’t need- “

Any further and intensely effusive praise from the ghost boy was cut off as Ember spun around and slammed into his midsection, her arms swinging round to hold onto him tightly and her face buried in his chest. He staggered back under the charge, Ember evidently not quite grasping how strong she was at the moment. Before he could make a snarky comment or beg for his ribs to be spared the relentless assault, however, he heard Ember’s muffled voice.

“They liked me… they actually _liked_ me…”

“… Of course they did, Em. How could they not?”

Ember’s face twisted up to look him in the eye, devoid of its usual scowl or teasing smirk. Danny could chalk this up to another first – he never did think he’d see Ember look at him with _gratitude_.

“Thank you so, _so_ much, Danny.”

Danny smiled, and put his arms around her shoulders. “Hey, it’s not like I did anything. You’re the one with the talent, rockstar. I just got you the stage to prove it.”

“We both know that’s not true. I wouldn’t be here without you,” she retorted, before she grinned up at him, her hand snaking up to cup his cheek. Danny raised his own gloved hand to hers, laying it over the back of it.

“You believed in me, even when I didn’t,” Ember said softly, more sincere than he’d ever seen her outside the meeting that had gotten all this started. But where in the forest she was all raw vulnerability and fear, here? Her eyes glowed softly, unguarded and trusting, and full of affection. “That’s not nothing. I never thought _anyone_ would like my music. Then you happened. Then this. Now I… I dunno what to think, or what I’m gonna do about it. But I think I know how to thank you properly…”

Gradually she crawled up from his chest, her face flushed a darker blue as she pulled herself up him, her other arm snaking up his back. Danny could feel heat rise in his own face as he shifted his arms around to hold her, one hand sliding up the back of her neck as she drew ever closer to him.

Naturally, this was the point at which the door to the dressing room that Danny had neglected to use came alive with loud knocking and shouting came through.

“Ember! Oh my God, that was amazing!”

“You rocked it, flame brain!”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

Ember and Danny let out simultaneous groans, Ember dropping her head to Danny’s chest again as her fist beat against it lightly. “Kill them,” she muttered. “I’m gonna _kill them_.”

“Em, they’re our friends.”

“I don’t care, I’mma kill them!”

“You didn’t let me finish. They’re _our_ friends, so _we_ are going to kill them.”

Ember let loose a huff of laughter at that, turning her eyes back up to his, frustration and wry amusement mixed on her face. She sighed and drew away from him, and Danny felt suddenly quite empty without her in his arms.

“Guess I’d better face my adoring public _before_ we put them in early graves,” she said resignedly.

“Probably,” Danny agreed. He hesitated for a moment, before taking her hand in his. The ghost girl raised an eyebrow but squeezed regardless. “… Y’know, I had a big speech and set of arguments planned but I think we’re on the same page here. No more hiding?”

She didn’t answer immediately, instead closing the gap between and planting her lips on his cheek, before she pulled back smiling.

“No more hiding,” she declared, before flinging the door open to admit their friends.

And as the group excitedly swarmed the pair and began jabbering their praises to Ember and Kitty kept casting excited, impish looks at Danny even as Sam seemed to avoid looking at him altogether, he realised one thing.

_… She left a massive purple lipstick print on my cheek on purpose, didn’t she?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, told you this one would take a while.
> 
> Choosing the song for her to play was harder than I expected. My original plan was to go with _Clones _by Ash, as I still think a lot of Ash songs work for Ember. The problem I ran into is that sounds so much like a song both Ember and Sam would write that I wanted to do that at some point in the future instead. I went through a few options after that, some of which will be used eventually (Ember dedicating a cover of Misery Business to Paulina is one such), until I hit on this, _Back From The Dead _by Skillet.____
> 
> ____I dunno if they have a reputation of any kind, I live in the UK, I found them by accident. But if you take the lyrics of that one literally, wow, it’s just about Ember almost point blank._ _ _ _
> 
> ____In any case, there’s something about this chapter that irks me. Nothing I can specifically point to, but I may well come back and edit this at some point if I ever figure it out. Anything stand out to you guys as worthy of a rework, or is this just my own insecurities talking? Ah well. The next one will be... fun._ _ _ _
> 
> ____Do drop a comment either way, I enjoy hearing from you all!_ _ _ _


	22. Choice...

Ember would admit she thinks people _should_ cheer whenever she enters a room, but she was reasonably sure things weren’t _that_ good with the Fenton’s that the whooping and hollering she was hearing from the lab as she walked through the portal was for her.

Ember twisted her head in the direction of the noise as she emerged from the swirling green ectoplasm. Baby pops parents were off in front of some giant computer, the screen flashing up with co-ordinates laid atop a map of… somewhere. Cartography was not her strong suit. Ember meandered closer to them, curious what had them so elated.

“Definite match! 93% similarity to Danny’s own ecto-signature!” Maddie near screamed in excitement. “It’s her! It’s Danielle! We’ve found her!”

Jack didn’t respond verbally at first, instead the large man wrapped his arms around his wife and span them both, triumphant laughter booming. “I knew it! I had a hunch she was down in Mexico City! The Speeder’s all charged and ready! Let’s go get our daughter!”

“Jack!” Maddie laughed, unable to retain the reproach she wanted to put into her voice. “Be serious! We’ll get there in the middle of the night, she’ll be asleep! We’ll go in the morning, as a _family_.”

 _Oh,_ thought Ember, some mild surprise creeping in, _guess I’ll get to meet her sooner than the dipstick thought._

She’d asked baby pop about who they’d all been talking about at Thanksgiving, that mysterious fifth Fenton. He hadn’t actually answered her directly, which had hurt until he’d explained himself – it wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, it was more he didn’t know what Danielle wanted everyone else to know. Better to keep things vague so she can decide for herself rather than just blast everything to everyone. More or less the same reason him having missing family wasn’t more widely known as well – sure, just _announce_ you’ve got a missing relation that you can’t find somewhere in the world. Like _that_ wouldn’t be catnip to his enemies should they find out, never mind the absolute media frenzy that would ensue.

The vagueness had its downsides too, though – Danny revealing they were trying to find Danielle through her ecto-signature, an ecto-signature similar to his own, had just sent Ember on a wild ride of speculation that had ended at Kitty, Star and Tucker trying to talk her down from believing the missing Fenton to be Danny and Ember’s daughter from the future. She really should delete that chat, can’t have _that_ reaching anyone’s eyes. Embarrassing enough that she unhesitatingly believed Clockwork had pulled some nonsense to get Danny his future child, never mind that she barely questioned the notion that the kid was also _hers_.

If baby pop ever found that out, she figured murder-suicide was the best recourse.

Ember’s recollection was interrupted by the sound of Jack’s palm banging on a different set of equipment.

“Come in, Danno!” He shouted into the microphone. “Why is Danny’s comm equipment so patchy lately?! He needs to know!”

 _Well, if there was ever a cue,_ Ember thought.

“I can probably drop him a message if you’d like,” she called out, wandering towards the pair. Jack jumped and his arm violently wrenched to a halt as he stopped himself reaching for the Fenton bazooka lying next to the communication equipment. Baby steps.

“Oh, Ember, perfect!” Maddie beamed at the ghost girl. “You’re meeting him in the city centre, right?”

“Yup. I’ll let him know, Mrs. F,” Ember replied, shooting the auburn-haired woman a thumbs up. It was still so _weird_ to her that she could just casually talk with his parents without getting shot at. Just more of baby pop changing her life in strange, but good ways.

A few minutes of small talk later and Ember was in the sky, lounging on her guitar as it sped towards the centre of Amity, where the city concentrated most of its shopping, and where it was currently playing host to the Christmas market in a large open square in town.

Where she was meeting Danny for their first, proper, not any kind of cover date.

It wasn’t anything elaborate. It wasn’t an overly planned, saccharine thing you’d see in a movie. They weren’t even dressed up for it. It was just going to be them browsing the stalls, buying each other food, maybe getting a start on that style update baby pop _desperately needed_ , ice skating, hot chocolate…

OK, this was sounding more saccharine the more she thought about it.

And she couldn’t wait.

They would get attention, of course. No way to avoid it. They were who they were, after all – the saviour of the world and a rockstar ghost with a penchant for mayhem and conquest (although Star had mentioned her more peaceful visits lately were stirring up some positive talk about her which was… interesting), they’d get everyone’s cameras on them in an instant. They’d have to start coming up with what to do when they inevitably got found out by the rest of the jerks in the Zone, and _that_ was going to be deeply flippin’ tedious. Worth it, obviously, but… but…

… why could she hear fighting?

Her guitar screeched to a halt in mid-air as she stopped to listen and frown. Darn it, the whole reason they’d waited until now to do this was because they shouldn’t run into any one of Danny’s usual sparring partners. The truce didn’t kick in until Christmas Day itself, and it was only the twenty-third now, but the closer you got to the day, the less attacks Amity got in general. Even what it did get was more along the lines of occasional theft of seasonal things you couldn’t get in the Ghost Zone. What kind of idiot picks an actual fight?

She shouldered her guitar and turned invisible, heading towards the sounds of combat at a slower speed. Hopefully Danny’d be dealing with something easy and they could laugh about it later, but she’d like at least a few dates before everything went straight down the toilet, so out of sight it was until she knew that for certain.

She dropped to the top of a nearby building and looked down. The Christmas market was laid out below, wooden stalls festooned with festive junk and rustic gifts at odds with the urban environment they were in, food carts decked out in tinsel and offering variations of their usual fare. Scattered amidst the stalls were attractions, a large Ferris wheel and an ice rink among them.

The whole thing must have looked quite nice when it was still intact.

Because in the centre of it all, was the debris and remains of smashed carts, craters, and fire damage abounding on the ground. And in the midst of it all…

Ember groaned. Of course that’d be who decides now’s the time to _finally_ “hang the whelps pelt on the wall.”

Down there, in the square, with hundreds of Amity citizens at the far edges of the fighting watching on – seriously, shouldn’t baby pop have gotten them to leave by now? Her ex was more or less useless in a straight up fight against halfa’s, but a missile was still a missile and humans were still squishy – Danny threw punches and fired blasts and pulled tricks on none other than the Ghost Zone’s self-proclaimed greatest hunter, Skulker.

Ember paused. Skulker was close to the top of the list of people they did not want to find out about their… could she call it a relationship yet? Check with baby pop later. By the plans they’d had in case of emergencies, she should just teleport away right this second, avoid the risk entirely and figure out another day for this. She _really_ didn’t want to, though. The Christmas truce was the only time they could be sure of minimal involvement from other ghosts. Plus, it was _Skulker_. He hadn’t been able to make Danny break a sweat since the early days when the ghost boy was still getting a handle on the whole “oh hey I can die and resurrect myself more easily than standing up” deal.

Satisfied with her justifications and excuses, and sure she could sweet talk her baby pop into accepting them as well, she settled down, staying invisible, with her arms resting on the edge of the building, to watch Danny kick Skulker’s metallic behind.

…

He, uh.

He seemed to be taking a while to do it.

She watched Danny, whom she’d _seen_ punch Skulker across a room in a single blow before, land hits that seemed to do little to no damage. The blasts he fired impacted directly on the joints of Skulkers suit but didn’t seem to faze the hunter in the slightest. In fact, had Skulker _ever_ moved this fast before, or hit as hard as he seemed to be doing? His machete was a blur as it lunged and cut at Danny, and even from this distance she could see his hazmat suit flecked with green. How was he…

Ember peered closer and felt her core still.

Skulkers suit. It wasn’t the usual gunmetal grey, the same suit he’d worn and made only minimal changes and upgrades to for who knew how long. It was difficult to tell from a distance, but she’d seen him work on the stupid thing long enough – it was made out of some dark green metal, with a slick, oil-like shine and studded with spikes.

The soul steel, that got stolen from Walker almost three months ago now. Some half-remembered rant of Skulkers reminded Ember it was too finnicky a metal to make a suit out of unless you had a… good enough power source. Like the one stolen from the GIW.

Oh no.

Ember drank in the scene fearfully, more details revealing themselves.

Danny hadn’t used anything beyond his basics, when something like the Wail was more than justified, and hadn’t gone far from Skulker, staying in close where the hunter’s machete could cut and stab. It was only once Ember thought to question why that was that she noticed the crowd of people weren’t there by choice. The main roads out of the square were blocked, vast spiked barriers in place on the pathways. Skulker was _keeping_ them here, hundreds of human shields to limit what Danny could do in retaliation. And baby pop couldn’t leave either – a faint blue line ran from his leg to the ground, the leg tinged with green. He was tethered.

And what had Jack said? Danny’s comm equipment wasn’t _patchy_ , it was being _jammed._ Technus had taken everything of the GIW’s he could grab that night of the Halloween party. There must have been jamming equipment in that van he attacked. _This_ was what he meant when he’d led Danny on a chase around town the night of her gig. The thing he helped build.

Oh God. Danny was going to _die._

Her first instinct, she was surprised and a little proud to realise, was to dive down there, guitar in hand and beat Skulker’s stupid metal face in until he couldn’t do anything else to Danny anymore. She even propped one metal boot onto the edge of the building in anticipation.

But then she hesitated. And _immediately_ hated herself for it.

(“ _Oh, why are you surprised you’d stop?”_ the nasty little voice, the one that gave rise to her every insecurity and all the worst parts of the ghost girl, whispered to her. “ _You know how selfish you are. And you know better than anyone what happens if you step down there.”)_

She did. Even if they got out of it without losing their afterlives, that was it. Even the best-case scenario, shoving Skulker into a thermos for a few days until they could figure out what to do, ended the same way – the end of Ember’s afterlife in the Zone, in the worst way possible. Bad enough that she’s “friendly” (and she could _hear_ the air quotes with which it would be said) with Danny, actually attacking another ghost to save him? Forget painting a target on her back, this would be the nuclear option. _Everyone_ would be gunning for her.

( _“That’s right. It isn’t like anyone could blame you if you walked away either. They wouldn’t even have to know you were here. You went to get help, you arrived later, anything would do. No one would know. You’ve gotten everything out of the boy you could want. You could turn that one gig into another shot at the world, and nobody could stop you. All you’d need to do is walk away from this. He’ll leave you alone again anyway, once he understands you better. Is one boy worth destroying your afterlife over?”)_

Ember paused at the threshold of her decision. And whispered.

“… Yeah. He is.”

She seldom spoke back to the mutterings of her darker impulses, the part of her that wanted to do nothing but wallow forever in hatred and despair, lashing out at the world at random. It never seemed worthwhile, when it was so persuasive most of the time.

If Ember knew three words were all she needed to banish it, she’d have done it years ago.

Ember shrugged her shoulder, slinging her guitar around, and glared downwards at the armoured form of Skulker, towering over Danny.

She hated the Ghost Zone anyway.

* * *

The machete flashed again, and Danny felt the cut open up on his forearm and a part of the hazmat suit flap as the arm jerked back. Danny gritted his teeth, trying to avoid giving Skulker the satisfaction of shouting in pain. He’d handed him that enough so far.

“Stings, doesn’t it?” Skulkers baritone taunted. “To be beaten so _thoroughly_.”

The ghost boy was given no chance to reply, ducking under a vicious swipe from the blade only to be met with a knee straight to his chin. He hurtled backwards to the ground, rolling a few times on the ground, groaning with pain.

He was a mess, and he knew it. There were cuts and slashes leaking red-flecked ectoplasm all over the place, to say nothing of the bruises scattered over his body from Skulker’s fists. In the vague haze of pain, he thought he hated the tether most of all. It wasn’t all that painful except when it got yanked, but having the wire slide around _inside_ him felt horrible in a way he hadn’t ever contemplated before.

He had nothing. He’d shut up some time ago, the jokes at Skulkers expense dying on his lips as everything became worse, directing all his brain power to figuring something, _anything_ out, some way out of the situation. But if there was a way, he couldn’t see it. He was boxed in – backup wasn’t coming, at least not any time soon.

He couldn’t use the Ghostly Wail, not without injuring or maybe killing some of the people left around. He tried to duplicate, but Skulker popped them the instant he did, and he didn’t have the energy to just keep making them. Any ice he made was busted through, and though he probably _could_ freeze the hook on the tether off, he’d need a minute or two for that, and Skulker wouldn’t give it to him.

And never mind beat him the old-fashioned way – that new suit wouldn’t allow _that_ as an option.

 _Ember,_ he thought as he rolled onto his front and struggled to all fours, _I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m going to make our date…_

“Well, whelp?” Skulker rumbled, his deep voice vibrating with amusement. “No witty comment to make? No clever insult to throw my way?”

“Wh… why aren’t you a joke anymore?” Danny managed to spit out feebly, blood loss robbing his voice of much of its strength.

Danny screamed in pain as his question was met with a snarl and Skulker’s boot slamming into his ribs, lifting him off the ground and onto his back again.

“I was _never_ a joke!” The metallic ghost hissed. “I am the Ghost Zone’s _greatest hunter!”_

Skulker stepped over Danny, placing a boot firmly over the symbol on his chest to pin him to the ground, before the hunter took a deep breath. “Although… I suppose I can hardly blame you for believing otherwise. I’ve spent the last two years _disrespecting_ you, after all.”

He chuckled as Danny, in spite of the pain, managed to adopt a look of utter bafflement. “You were my ultimate prey, whelp. And I foolishly believed my usual methods would be enough for you, in spite of all evidence to the contrary. I had become stagnant, rigid. A hunter should always be adaptable. These years trying claim your pelt reminded me of that. And now…”

Skulker reached down and clamp his hand around Danny’s throat, lifting him high into the air. “Now, there is _no_ prey beyond my reach.” He paused, considering for a moment. “You know, I almost feel sad. This is my crowning achievement as a hunter. There will be other prey after you, of course. The Behemoth of the far reaches. The Coiling Serpent of the core lands. All are within my grasp now. But none, _none,_ will ever push me to such heights as you. For that, you have my respect.”

Skulker’s machete poised over his heart, Danny’s feeble struggles and protests ignored, the screaming of the crowd seeming faint at the periphery as the ghost boy looked into the hunters red eyes. Maybe the last thing he’d see.

“Goodbye, Danny Phantom.”

“Take your stinking hands **OFF MY DIPSTICK!** ”

Danny clattered to the ground as Skulker spun to face the direction the roared demand – _Ember_ – had come from, only to be met with an ectoplasmic fist smashing hard into him. He and the energy construct careened backwards, Skulker digging a deep groove into the ground as he was hurled away, finally coming to a stop when he crashed through a wooden stall.

Danny struggled to rise, managing to get himself up on one knee when he heard heavy metal boots clomp onto the ground in front of him, and a melodious and sarcastic voice drawled at him.

“Wow, baby pop. Don’t you figure it’s a little early to propose? And you don’t even have a ring. I have _standards_.”

“… what?” Danny blinked, nonplussed, raising his head to look at the ghost girl, the humour of her voice not reaching her eyes as she knelt down in front of him, her guitar smoking. Danny reached a hand around to his side to press down at a bad cut and winced. “Wh… whatever. Em, get _out_ of here! If Skulker catches you- “

“What, you think I’m stupid?” She interrupted, snorting, the sad look not leaving her eyes. “I know what’ll happen. Doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere.”

“But- but- “Danny sputtered, before he hissed in pain. Some of the wounds Skulker had inflicted, all mostly small, shallow cuts to bleed him dry, were starting to heal up. The big downside of having a healing factor – it was _not_ a pleasant experience. “I’m… I’ll be fine. You don’t need to put yourself on the firing line for me, get out- “

“Danny,” she said, seriously, stopping him in his tracks before he could plead with her, her gloved hand cupping his face. “I don’t care about that, you idiot. I care about _you_. I… You’ve been there for me when I had no-one else. You gave me my _dream_ back. I’m _not_ leaving you to die.”

Danny stared up at Ember, her vehement declaration echoing in his head, all the arguments he wanted to make, to make her leave, to keep her safe, dying in the wake of it, before he relented, leaning into her hand as he sighed. He knew she was stubborn going into this… whatever this was now. “OK… OK…”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” he murmured. “I told you. I trust you.”

He was severely tempted to close his eyes then and there and keep them closed, so that if he _was_ going to die, her expression melting into joy would be the last thing he saw.

“… Good. Didn’t want to have to smack you to stop you arguing, might’ve killed you,” she snarked, the softness draining from her face, her habitual scowl returning as she gripped at her guitar. “What do you need?”

Danny thought quickly, running through the priorities, before answering. “I need a few minutes to get this hook off me, then some time to heal up.”

She nodded. “Pretty sure I can manage that.”

Ember turned the dial on her guitar and strummed. In moments, a whirling pink shield erupted around Danny, encasing him within it. She took one last, long look at the boy inside, trying to convey what she felt with just her eyes as he did the same, before she turned to the pile of wood that was once a stall as it shifted and moved.

“Hey, Em,” Danny called out. She turned back to see him grinning at her. “Make sure you stay close. I want to watch you kick his butt.”

Ember cackled, an evil smirk appearing on her face.

“Oh, trust me, baby pop – it’ll be a heck of a show. Now you be good and stay in there – I gotta go have a word with my ex.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day, Fire And Ice! I got you a big status quo change!
> 
> OK, so, this is another chapter I didn't want to split. I in fact wanted to release this thing on the anniversary of fic going up at roughly twice the length of this, buuuuuut life happened. And by life I mean I'd explain it but good god, I don't want it to seem like my life is a soap opera even though it keeps acting like one. So I once again was forced to pick between "get something out near the time" or "make people wait for another month for an update". I will always, I think, opt for the former if I can find a good break point for the chapter. C'est la vie, I guess. Hopefully life will calm down again to where I can write long chapters. I definitely can't split the chapter after next anyway.
> 
> Thankfully, it means I've got less verbiage to hit you all with on this chapter, because this one and now the next one are chapters I've had in mind since the start of the fic, so I've got a decent amount to say about the whole.
> 
> First up, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter. Boy, did he have a decline in the show, right? He went from legitimately challenging and a serious, deadly threat to the Box Ghost with a gun over the course of what, a season? Certainly the fandom treats him similarly, and that will not do for an antagonist with so glorious a voice. One thing I knew I wanted to do with this fic, in a more minor sense, was give him his menace back. So, he reflects on his failures, and then comes up with a legitimately good trap for Danny and gets himself a serious upgrade. He would have succeeded were it not for Ember. I figure that's a good start on that front.
> 
> Speaking of Ember, though, I have a very specific attachment to the line "Take your stinking hands OFF MY DIPSTICK". The reason being I have a weird way of coming up with plots, namely I listen to trailer music and think about either a fandom or a genre or whatever else and see where my brain takes me. I'd rewatched the series, read a few fics, and wanted to write my own, so I gave it a go. A lot of the stuff I came up with I can't say just yet, because massive spoilers, but that line was in there, and instantly got me thinking about why she was saying it about Danny of all people. Which led me down the rabbit hole of who Ember was, why she did what she did, why she only turned up as an antagonist three times and only once by herself, etc. Basically that one line caused this whole fic.
> 
> And also lets be real, that followed by an attack looks cool in your head, doesn't it?
> 
> As always, all comments are welcome!


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